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A PRIMER 



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PEDAGOGY 



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Ihlril Kdilioii — irilli to lOth Tlioii«an(I, Kpvised and Knlari;«(l. 



/^xN^^ 0^^»CE OF ^^^ 

' H. R. PATTENGILL, PUBLISHER,- 2f^1^97 



L^isrsiiv? 



-.^^^er of Co9f '' 

^ // TWO COPIES Htb'tiVED 
If ^ O \ o ^- 



LBlOiS 



1274 



KOBERT SMITH PRINTING CO., PRINTERS AND BINDERS, 
LANSING, MICH. 



Copyright, 1897, 

BY 

Henry R. Pattengill. 



e 



PREFATORY NOTE TO THIRD EDITION. 



The favor with which this little volume has been received, 
and the conviction that it has been of great service to teachers 
of elementary schools, induce the publisher to issue a new 
edition. The body of the work remains essentially unchanged ; 
but a chapter has been added upon the Study of Children. 
This chapter presents only such matter as will be of real and 
practical value to ordinary teachers. This addition brings the 
book up to date. 



A PEIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 



CHAPTER L 

THE teacher's WORK. 

Three questions. — Three questions naturally present them- 
selves to a person who proposes to prepare himself to do any 
work: 

(1.) Just what is the work which I am preparing to do? 

(2.) By what means and methods, and in what manner, can 
this work be done most easily and thoroughly ? 

(3.) How can I prepare myself most readily and completely 
to do this work ? 

Should be answered. — Every candidate for a teacher's 
position should put these questions to himself, and should not 
be satisfied until he can answer them with a good degree of 
clearness and definiteness. 

Probable answer. — Very likely the answer to the first 
question, in most cases, will be, the work is teaching, and I 
propose to prepare myself to teach. 

While this reply might be accepted with sufiicient explana- 
tion and qualification, it involves the not unusual error of 
putting the means in place of the end. Teaching is not an end 
in itself: it is only and merely a means to an end. We do not 
teach for the sake of the teaching any more than we construct 
a machine simply for the sake of the machine, or make a road 
just for the sake of having the road. We value the machine, 



6 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

not for itself, however beautiful it may be, but for what we can 
accomplish by using it; we value the road because it affords a 
convenient way of going somewhere. So we value teaching on 
account of the purpose which can be accomplished by it. That 
purpose or end is the education of the child. 

The real work of the teacher. — The real work to be done, 
the real work of the teacher, is the right education of his. 
pupils. 

He teaches in order to attain this end. If the teaching 
secures this, it is good; if it fails to accomplish this, it is worth- 
less, or of very little value. 

What is right education?— If it be agreed that the teacher's 
work is the right education of the child, the question presents 
itself, what is right education ? Without attempting to give a 
complete and formal definition we may safely assume that the 
proper education of a child must include: — 

(1.) The complete development of the child; that is, the bring- 
ing out into the highest state of possible perfection all his 
powers of body and soul, making of him the most and best of 
which his nature is susceptible. 

(3.) The thorough training of tJie child. Training is form- 
ing, fashioning, and molding by continual practice, causing 
acta and processes to be repeated until they can be performed 
with great accuracy and rapidity and with little conscious 
effort. 

(3.) Thepi'ojyer instructing of the child; that is, the helping 
of the child, so far as aid is needed, to obtain that knowledge 
which will be of the highest value to him as an individual and 
also as a member of the community and a citizen of the state. 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. i 

What is produced?— These are the three co-ordinate elements 
or factors in a complete and symmetrical education: Develop- 
ment produces power, strength, energy; training results in 
skill, dexterity, facility, habit; instruction gives intelligence, 
comprehension, mastery of facts and principles, and should 
tend to the production of virtue and righteousness of charac- 
ter and conduct. Intelligence guides power in the right direc- 
tion, and makes profitable use of skill and dexterity. 

All accomplished at the same time. — These three objects 
are accomplished at the same time and by the same processes 
if right methods are wis'ely employed by the teacher. Instruc- 
tion must precede and accompany training and furnish the 
material upon which the activitj^ involved in training is exer- 
cised. The exercise which training requires produces develop- 
ment. 

Some definitions of education. — These statements of what 
education should do for the child are essentially the same as 
those made by many eminent writers. 

Tate. —Tate says: "Elementary education has two ends. 
1. To develop the intellectual and moral faculties; or, in other 
words, to develop the faculties of the perfect man. 2. To com- 
municate to the pupil that sort of knowledge which is most 
Ukely to be useful to him in the sphere of life which Providence 
has assigned him." 

Milton. — Milton, in his tractate on education, writes; *' I 
call a complete and generous education that which fits a man 
to perform justly, skillfully, and magaanimously, all the offices 
both private and public of peace and war." In this definition 
Milton has in view the purpose or end to be secured by educa- 
tion rather than education itself. 



O A PKIMEJR OF PEDAGOGY. 

Addison. — Addison, in his beautiful style, says: " I consider 
a human soul without education like marble in the quarry, 
which shows none of its inherent beauties until the skill of the 
polisher fetches out the colors,' makes the surface shine, and 
discovers every ornamental cloud, spot, and vein that runs 
through the body of it. 

" Education, after the same manner, when it works upon a 
noble mind, draws out to view every latent virtue and perfec- 
tion which, without such helps, are never able to make their 
appearance." 

Plato. — Plato, in his Laws, seems to have anticipated the 
modern doctrine of " learning to do by doing," and even some- 
thing of the kindergarten, when he writes: "According to my 
view, he who would be good at anything must practice that 
thing from his youth upwards, both in sport and in earnest, in 
the particular manner which the work requires. For example, 
he who is to be a good builder, should play at building chil- 
dren's houses; and he who is to be a good husbandman, at 
tilling the ground. Those who have charge of the education of 
children should provide them when young with mimic tools, 
and they should learn beforehand the knowledge which they 
will afterwards require for their art. For example, the future 
carpenter should learn to measure or apply the line in play; 
and the future warrior should learn riding, or some other exer- 
cise for amusement; and the teacher should endeavor to direct 
the children's inclinations and pleasures, by the help of amuse- 
ments, to their final aim in life. The soul of the child, in his 
I>lay, should be trained to that sort of excellence in which, 
when he grows to manhood, he will have to be perfected." 



A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 9 

In speaking of the value of education to the state he says: 
' ' If you ask what is the good of education in general, the 
answer is easy — that education makes good men, and good 
men act nobly because they are good." 

Divisions of education. — If the subject were to be fully con- 
sidered it would be convenient to make several divisions and 
treat each of these separately. It will only be possible here to 
indicate these divisions. 

1. Physical education, which treats of the proper develop- 
ment and training of the body, and of the conditions necessary 
for securing and maintaining strength, vigor and health in the 
physical organism. 

2. Intellectual education, which treats of the development 
and training of the intellectual powers, and of the whole mat- 
ter of instruction, study, and teaching. 

3. Moral education, which considers man as a being ca^pable 
of knowing right from wrong, and free to choose between these, 
and consequently responsible for his conduct. This division 
treats of the principles which should govern men in all the 
relations of life, and seeks to show how children may be taught 
and trained to habits of truthfulness, honesty, integrity, and 
virtue in the highest sense of the word. 

4. Industrial QdiWcaition, which includes " manual training," 
and considers how pupils may be prepared to use to the best 
advantage their powers of body as well as of mind, and may be 
fitted, when leaving school, to enter immediately into some 
business or employment of some kind by which they can gain 
a livelihood and be useful to the state. 

It will not be practicable to discuss these divisions separately, 
at any length, in this work. It will be understood that the 



10 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

complete education of a child includes, as far as possible, all 
these varieties of education. 

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER I. 

1. Three questions presented to one preparing for any work. 

2. Probable answer to the first question by one preparing to 
teach. 

3. Why this answer is not satisfactory. 

4. Illustrations of the purpose of teaching. 

5. Real work of the teacher. 

6. The three objects which education should include. 

7. The results of development, of training, of instruction. 

8. Relation of these processes to each other. 

9. Definitions of education quoted. Tate, Milton, Addison, 
Plato. 

10. Divisions of the subject of education and purpose of each. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE CHILD. 

Knowledge needed to answer the second question. — The 
question, What is the teacher's work ? was answered in the first 
chapter. The second question, By what means and methods, 
and in what manner, can this work be done most easily and 
thoroughly ? cannot be answered so readily and briefly. 

The being to he educated is the child. Before we can tell 
how to educate him we must know what sort of a being lie is. 
What is there in him to be developed and trained? The germs 
of what powers and capacities does he possess? What kind of 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 1 I 

instruction does he need ? and under what conditions and cir- 
cumstances can this instruction be given to the best advantage ? 

Illustration. — The man who should offer to take charge of a 
valuable young horse, and to train him for use or for the mar- 
ket, would be asked by the owner of the animal what he knew 
about horses, and about the best methods of training them; 
whether he knew what kind of food horses needed, and how 
much, and in what form and at what times it should be given. 
Whether he had carefully studied the nature and disposition 
of horses, and understood how to handle them; how to train 
them so as to bring out their very best characteristics and 
qualities, and to correct any bad or vicious traits which might 
appear in the progress of their education. Such questions 
would be reasonable, and it would be necessary for this can- 
didate for the position of trainer to make clear and definite 
replies. It would hardly be satisfactory for him to say that 
he had seen a great many horses, and could readily distinguish 
them from mules by sight, even at considerable distance. 

Proper to ask of the teacher. — Is it not proper to ask as 
much of the teacher of children as of the trainer of horses? 
and to expect as definite answers of the teacher as of the 
trainer? What, then, is a child? 

What the child is.— The child is a complex being, curiously 
and wonderfully made, composed of matter, the body, and of 
spirit, the mind or soid. The limits of a short chapter will 
not allow a complete analysis and study of his nature. It is 
assumed that the reader has some knowledge of the human 
body, derived from observation and from instruction in the 
elements of physiology. We shall here notice only some parts 



12 A PKIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 

of the nervous system, which must be clearly understood in 
order to understand certain activities of the mind. 

Nervous system. — The brain is the great center of the nerv- 
ous system. From the brain and the spinal cord small 
threads or cords called nerves extend to all parts of the body. 
Each nerve is composed of a considerable number of very 
minute fibers very closely united. The peculiar property or 
cliaracteristic of the nerves is the susceptibility of being 
impressed, excited, or irritated, and the power of transmitting 
or conveying, in some ivay, these impressions, excitements or 
irritations. 

Some of the nerves or nerve fibers transmit impressions made 
upon them by external things inward to the brain. These are 
called afferent or sensory nerves. Other nerves convey im- 
pulses or impressions from the brain outward to the various 
parts of the body. These are named efferent or motor nerves. 
For example, I will to take a book from the table; the nerves 
running to my hand and fingers convey the order or impulse 
made upon them by the act of my will; the muscles of the 
arm, hand and fingers move in the right direction and order 
and the book is grasped. 

PROCESSES AND ACTIVITIES OF KNOWING. 

The senses. — We are said to have five senses. This means 
that there are five peculiar and special nerves, called nerves of 
sense, through which we get the beginnings of all our knowl- 
edge. These are the nerves of touch, taste, smell, hearing and 
sight. They are sometimes called tlie ' ' gate- ways of the soul, " 
because only through these can the soul become acquainted 
with the external world. 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 16 

Each of these nerves, except the nerves of touch, receives 
but one kind of impression and gives to the mind but one kind 
of knowledge. By a most beneficient provision, however, if one 
nerve of sense is lost or destroyed, the others can, to a consider- 
able extent, supply its place. It is also true that, by a process of 
education, one sense learns to do work which originally belonged 
to another sense. For example, we judge by sight whether a 
surface is rough or smooth, although, in the first instance, we 
must have learned to distinguish the rough from the smooth by 
touch. Other illustrations will readily occur to any one who 

thinks. 

Knowledge derived through the different senses. — By the 

sense of touch in connection with muscular movement and 
resistance, we obtain our first notions of form, distance, direc- 
tion, weight, hardness, softness, roughness, smoothness, and 
of many other characteristics of objects. Taste makes us 
acquainted only with flavors. Smell gives information con- 
cerning odors alone; hearing is the only gate -way through 
which sounds reach the soul. Sight primarily gives knowledge 
of colors and forms; but very early the child begins to learn , 
through this sense, of size, direction, distance, character of sur- 
faces, and of many other things.. Education deals very largely 
with the sense of sight. The eye and the hand are of priceless 
value in the schoolroom, as they are in the greater world of 
human affairs generally. 

The senses, instruments of the mind. — The senses are the 
instruments or organs of the mind. Through them the mind 
feels, tastes, smells, hears, and sees. In the process of educa- 
tion they are to be trained, by proper exercise, to become more 
perfect and more reliable instruments. It is a part of tlie 
teacher's work to provide for such training. 



14: A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

The mind. Consciousness. — The mind or soul is that ivithin 
us which knows, feels, and wills. Of its substance we have no 
knowledge. We know that we feel, taste, smell, hear, and see; 
that we think, remember, imagine and reason. This kind of 
knowing tve call consciousness, which may be defined as the 
viindknowing itself and knoiving its own states and activities. 

Relation of consciousness to the senses. Sensation. — The 
relation of consciousness and the senses is easily illustrated: I 
rub the tips of my fingers over the rough surface of an unpol- 
ished piece of stone and then over the surface of a piece of 
highly polished marble. An impression is made in each case 
upon the minute fibers of the nerves. They are irritated, or 
excited, and this excitement is conveyed along the nerves to the 
brain. In some way, but how no one has yet been able to 
explain, an impression is made upon the mind. A state of 
mind is produced which is called a sensation. We say, there- 
fore, sensation is a state of mind produced by an impression 
upon some sensory nerve. 

Beginnings of education. — The mind is immediately aware 
of the sensation through consciousness. In the case just sup- 
posed of rubbing the pieces of stone, the mind recognizes the 
two sensations, compares them, pronounces them unlike, and 
declares one piece to be rough, the other smooth. All th^, 
knowledge of the child begins with sensations. The process 
of education commences just at this point, and commences with 
the knowing of sensations, comparing them, finding their 
resemblances and differences, and making conclusions and 
decisions concerning them. 

Knowledge of external things. — As soon as the mind 
becomes conscious of sensations it begins spontaneously to 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 15 

attribute them to external objects or influences as causes. If 
through the sense of smell it has a sensation of some odor, it 
believes the odor comes from some object outside of itself. This 
attributing sensations to their causes brings the mind into 
acquaintance with the external world, and produces what is 
called perception. 

Perception. — Perception, as an act, is the mind knowing 
things outside of itself, the world about us. As a power, per- 
ception is tJie ability of the mind to know the external world. 
In the act of perceiving we form in the mind an image, idea, 
or notion of the thing perceived. This product of the act of 
perceiving is called a percept. If I look upon a tree and then 
close my eyes and turn away I can form a picture or repre- 
sentation of the tree in my mind. This picture is the percept 
reproduced. If I hear a musical tone I can afterwards form 
an idea or notion of the tone, but not an image or picture. The 
same is true of a taste or an odor. These ideas or notions are 
also called percepts. 

Space and time. — The mind is so made that as soon as a 
child begins to know objects he cannot help thinking or know- 
ing that they are somewhere. That somewhere he learns to 
call space. He cannot think of himself without at the same 
time thinking that he is in space. He thinks of all things as in 
space, though he cannot tell what space is. 

As soon as he commences to notice that events happen one 
after another, that he sees one thing and then another, that he 
thinks one thought and then another, he has immediately an 
idea of what we call time, though he is unable to describe it. 

Intuition. — That power of mind tvhich causes the child to have 
such ideas as those of space and time is called intuition. The 



16 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

same power recognizes instantly the truth of what we call 
axioms. They are said to be self-evident truths. We mean by 
this that the. mind is so constituted that it cannot help accept- 
ing them as true as soon as it knows them. It does not go 
through any process of reasoning to reach this conclusion. 
Such truths as these make a starting point in all processes of 
reasoning. No sane mind ever doubts or denies them. 

The perceptive powers. — These three activities of mind, con- 
sciousness, perception and intuition, give us the beginnings, 
what we may call the raw material, of all our knowledge. 
Taken together they form a class or group of mental activities 
and are named the perceptive powers. Consciousness, as before 
stated, is the mind knowing or perceiving itself, and what it 
does, and how it feels, and what it chooses and determines. 
Perception, as an act, is the mind perceiving or knowing 
external things through the senses. Intuition is the mind per- 
ceiving or knowing simple ideas, such as the idea of time, of 
space, of beauty, or of right, and of self-evident truths: Such 
as that the whole is equal to the sum of all its parts, or that an 
object can be in onlj' one place at any one time. 

COXCEPTIVE OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTIVITIES. 

Power and process of representation. — As already stated, I 
can shut my eyes and 5'"et see, in my mind, a tree, or a house, 
or any other object of sight. There appears to be ''in the 
mind's eye," a picture or an image of the object. Tli is picture 
or image is said to represent the object. 

I can think of some sound which I have heard at some past 
time so as to have a pretty clear and distinct idea of the sound. 
Any person who sings must be able to do this, otherwise he 



A PRIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. IT 

could not reproduce to-day the notes of a tune learned yesterday 
or last year. 

In the same way one can form a notion of a taste or a smell 
which has been experienced at some time. If this were not so 
the mouth would not "water" when we think of some very 
delicious article of food. 

Representation from descriptions. — I can also represent or 
picture mentally any object or place when it is described to me, 
although I have never myself seen the object or place. This 
process of representation always goes on in the mind when one 
is reading, if the language of the book or paper is understood. 
A book is of no use to a child until he has become able to form- 
those mental images and ideas. 

Representation in school. — In the schoolroom the pupil, 
who is told to place an example in arithmetic upon the black- 
board without using his book, must first form a picture or idea 
of the example in his mind before he can produce it on the 
board. The same would be true of a sentence to be written, 
of a map to be drawn, or of a geometrical figure to be repro- 
duced. 

Concepts. — All these mental images, pictures, ideas or 
notions are called simple concepts. They differ from percepts 
in this respect: Percepts are the mental pictures and ideas or 
notions of objects formed when the objects are present to the 
senses; concepts are the mental pictures and notions formed 
when the objects are not present. 

Real representation. — In all the examples thus far men- 
tioned the mind represents things just as they are or just as 
they are supposed to be. This process is called real represen- 



18 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

tation, and the mental activity ivhich does such work is called 
simple conception or the power of real representation. It is 
also sometimes named reproductive imagination. 

Ideal representation, imagination. — But there is another 
and a different kind of representation, which is more properly 
the work of imagination. Mental images and pictures may be 
combined and arranged into new forms, unlike any which have 
ever been seen, or which actually exist. In this way the painter 
produces an ideal landscape, putting into a single picture the 
representation of objects from many different localities, a 
mountain from one place, a valley from another, a grove from 
still another, and so on until he has filled his canvas. In like 
manner the story writer fills his book with incidents, skillfully 
woven together, which originally had no relation to each other. 
Such representations are called ideal, and the mental power 
ivhich creates them is imagination proper. 

Other work of imagination. — The imagination also changes 
things by representing them as larger or smaller than they 
really are, thus making giants and pygmies out of ordinary 
men. It also transforms one thing into another, and represents 
perscHis and things by objects which have no resemblance to 
them. The boy's stick becomes a horse; the girl's toy table is 
surrounded by an imaginary company of her playmates. 

In school. — In the schoolroom imagination is of great serv- 
ice. By its help the pupil sees rivers, lakes, mountains, hills, 
villages, cities, railroads, and hundreds of other objects in the 
map hanging on the wall before him, where, in reality, he can 
see only lines and marks of various kinds. 

Memory. — Memory is the power of mind which retains, re- 
produces and reknows knowledge. How it retains we do not 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 19 

know. It acts constantly in connection with simple conception 
and imagination. In many cases their work could not be done 
without the aid of memory. 

How memory recalls. — The memory can recall and repro- 
duce a few things instantly. A person gives his name, repeats 
the alphabet, answers questions on the multiplication table 
without stopping to think. But in most cases it takes a little 
time to bring back what is asked for. It is not able to get the 
thing wanted by a single effort. It starts with one thing, that 
leads on to another, the second leads to a third, the third to a 
fourth, and so on until the desired object is reached and repro- 
duced. All these various things are said to be associated or 
fastened together in the mind, so that any one of them will aid 
the memory in finding the others. There is always a relation 
of some sort between objects and ideas thus associated. The 
relations which cause knowledge to be associated in this ivay 
are called laws of association. 

Laws of association. — The most important of these laws are, 
(1) the law of similarity, (2) the law of contrast, and (3) the law 
of contiguity. That is, things and thoughts are associated in 
the mind because they are alike, or because they are the oppo- 
sites of one another, or because they belong in the same time, 
or at the same place, or are in some way closely related. These 
laws are called primary and objective. 

Conditions of mind and body. — In addition to these laws 
there are certain conditions and states both of mind and body 
which help the power of memory very much. For this reason 
such conditions are sometimes called secondary and subjective 
laws of association. 

The most essential of these are (1) attention, (2) repetition, 



20 A PEIMER OF. PEDAGOGY. 

m proper feeling , (4) lapse of time, (5) condition of mind, (6) 
condition of body, and (7) employments. Those things are 
usually easily remembered to which we give close attention 
when learning them. Some things are fixed in the memory 
simply by many repetitions; others by some vivid feeling asso- 
ciated with them. Things can be. easily recalled which w^ere 
learned yesterday; those learned a long time ago are recalled 
less readily. If the mind is preoccupied, or the body is full of 
pain, it is difficult to commit a lesson to memory. 

Finally, men readily recall things connected with their daily 
business. 

The representative or conceptive powers. — Simple concep- 
tion, imagination and memory are grouped together and called 
the conceptive or representative powers of the mind. 

THINKING ACTIVITIES. 

Thinking processes — Having got the matter of knowledge 
by the perceptive powers we hold it and reproduce it by the 
representative powers, and then go on to examine, arrange, 
and classify it so that we can use it for practical purposes, or 
as means by which to obtain additional knowledge. These 
processes of examining, sorting over, and arranging ive call 
thinking. 

Analysis, abstractions, generalization — Things which are 
to be brought together into the same class must possess certain 
common characteristics. These characteristics form the basis 
of the classification. In order to find such characteristics, 
objects must be carefully and thoroughly examined. This 
examination is called analysis. Then these common charac- 
teristics must be picked out from the others and united into a 



A PKIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 21 

complex notion or concept. The process is termed abstrac- 
tion. Finally, atl the objects which have these qualities are 
grouped under some common name. This last act is called 
gejieralization. 

General conception, general concepts. — The mental activity, 
by which these three complex processes of analysis, abstrac- 
tion, and generalization are performed, is named general con- 
ception; and the mental product is called a general concept. 
This is the simplest thinking operation of the mind. In this 
way we form the ideas or notions expressed by common 
nouns, such as flowers, roses, apples, horses, houses, books 
and so on. 

The judgment, a judgment. — We are constantly comparing 
objects and pronouncing them alike or unlike. The young 
child begins by comparing sensations, and next percepts, or 
objects about him. He compares persons, animals, flowers, 
fruits, and learns to discriminate or distinguish one from 
another. The mental power which thus compares and decides 
concerning things is called the judgment, and the mental prod- 
uct is named a judgment. When a judgment is expressed in 
words, either spoken or written, it is termed 3^ proposition or a 
sentence. Stones are hard; sugar is sweet; the horse is worth 
a hundred dollars. These are all judgments expressed in 
propositions. 

Form of thinking. — This forming of judgments is another of 
the thinking processes; most, if not all, our thinking takes this 
forrh, as one can determine by analyzing his own mental 
activities. As soon as the child has learned language he thinks 
in words. 

Reasoning. — One other mode of thinking is called reasoning. 



9Q 



A TEIMEK OF PEDAGOCrY. 



in this judgments are compared. We assume certain things 
to be true, and then say, if these are true a certain other thing 
must be true, also. For example: Liars are bad men; this 
man is a liar; therefore, this man is bad. 

The knowing powers. — General conception, judgment, and 
reasoning form the group of thinking powers. The three 
groups together constitute the knowing poivers of the mind or 
the intellect. 



Synopsis 

of the 

Knowing 

Powers. 



1, Perceptive Powers... 



"^ Conceptive or Repre- 
sentative Powers 



1. Conciousness. 

2. Sense Perception. 

3. Intuition. 

1. Simple Conception. 

2. Imagination. 

3. Memory. 



i ]. General Conception. 

, Thinking Powers ■] 2. Judgment. 

( 3. Reasoning. 

THE FEELINGS. 

Bodily feelings. — The body of the child is susceptible of exci- 
tations and irritations called feelings. Some of these are pleas- 
ant and agreeable; others are painful and disagreeable. When 
the body of the child is in good condition the processes of diges- 
tion, assimilation, and respiration, are attended with pleasur- 
able feelings. When the body is in bad condition some of these 
processes are painful. The mental activities of the child are 
much influenced by these bodily feelings, and in consequence 
of them he is good-natured or ill-natured. 

The best known of the physical feelings are the appetites. 
Some of these are natural, such as the appetite for food and 
drink; some are artificial, being created by habits, such as the 
appetite for tobacco, for opium, and for intoxicating liquors. 



A PEIMER OF PEDAGOGY. Zd 

Mental feelings. — The mind, also, is susceptible of excited 
states called feelings. These are very numerous, but as they 
are well known through consciousness it will be sufficient to 
mention a few of the most important. 

Classes of feelings— emotions. — There are (1) the emotions, 
such as the feelings of pleasure, pain, joy, sadness, satisfac- 
tion, dissatisfaction; the higher feelings caused by wit, humor, 
beauty, sublimity, and many others. These excitements of 
mind seem to rise and die away without going out toward per- 
sons or objects. 

Affections. — There are (2) the affections, that is, feelings of 
good-will or ill-will which seem to be directed towards persons 
or things outside of ourselves. Among these are the love of 
parents for children, of children for parents, of members of a 
family for one another, of friends for friends, the love of one's 
country and countrymen. Among the bad affections of which 
the soul is susceptible, are envy, jealousy, anger, malice, hatred 
and revenge. 

Desires. — There are (3) also the desires, which may be called 
cravings or longings of the mind for things which are supposed 
to be capable of giving pleasure, satisfaction, enjoyment, or 
advantage of some sort. The desire is named from the object 
desired, as the desire for knowledge, for wealth, honor, 
esteem, power. 

Complex feelings — Some feelings are very complex. Among 
these are hope, which is made up of desire and expectation; 
fear, dread, and many others. 

Important for the teacher. — It is of the highest importance 
to the teacher to understand the nature of the feelings, and 
how they are aroused and allayed, because they are the springs 



24 A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

of action in the mind of the child. They influence, if they do 
not entirely control, his conduct. He seeks after and strives 
for what he desires. He is induced to act by exciting the 
proper desire. 

THE WILL. 

Analysis of an act of the will." — The loill consists of the 
mental activities exercised in choosing and determining, or it 
may be called the executive power of the soul; it is that 
exercise of mind which precedes every voluntary act. The 
series of mental processes which result in an act of willing 
seem to take place in this order: An alternative of some sort 
is presented; something may be done or left undone; one of 
several objects may be had; of two courses of conduct one is 
to be selected; we may go, or remain where we are. 

Order of the mental processes. — When an alternative is 
thus presented the mind must have time for examination and 
deliberation. Reasons for and against are considered, argu- 
ments are weighed, advantages and disadvantages are set over 
against each other. After such deliberation a choice is made; 
one thing or object is preferred to another. Then the final act 
of volition or determination is made, and the process of willing 
is completed. In all cases a feeling of desire immediately pre- 
cedes the volition, and appears to be almost a part of that act. 
It will be seen that the mind always follows this order: (1) it 
knows, (2) feels, (3) wills or determines. 

Dealing with the child. — In dealing with the child, there- 
fore, the teacher must follow this same order. Give the knowl- 
edge or information which will excite desire. In this way 
only can the will be reached and moved. Those considerations 
or objects which excite desire are usually termed motives. 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 25 

Strictly speaking, desire is the motive, but it is convenient and 
according to usage to apply the name both to the desire and to 
that which excites the desire. The exciting cause may be a 
real external object, an object of perception, or it may be 
only an object of thought, a product of the representative 
power. 

Examples. — For example, something which he values is 
promised to a child to induce him to study a lesson or to 
behave well. The desire to possess the object moves his will, 
and he determines to study, or to conduct himself properly. 
Instead of such an object being presented, the child may be 
told of the pleasure which his diligence in study, his progress 
in learning, or his good conduct will give to his mother and 
father. In this case the desire of giving such pleasure produces 
the needed action of the will. When something is done by a 
child through fear of punishment, the desire to avoid pain or 
disgrace is the impelling force. In these cases it is an object of 
thought which excites the feeling. 

THE MORAL NATURE. 

A moral being. — A moral being is a being capable of know- 
ing right from wrong, and free to choose between them, and to 
do whichever he pleases. Only such a being can be blamed or 
justly punished for his conduct. Man is such a being. 

The moral nature. — The moral nature of the child consists 
of those powers of his mind which enable him to know the 
right, to understand the reasons why he should choose and do 
the right, and which urge and impel him to thus choose and 
do, giving him a feeling of pleasure and enjoyment when he 
does the right, and a feeling of pain and dissatisfaction when 



26 A PEIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

he does the wrong. With a single exception these powers are 
the same as those already studied. Their activity is simph'' 
turned in a different direction, and exercised upon different 
subjects, or different material. They are called moral powers, 
because their activity is exercised upon questions of right and 
wrong, of obligations and duties,- of things which ought or 
ought not to be done, or said, or thought, or felt. 

Moral intuition. — Intuition gives the child the primary 
notion of a distinction between right and wrong; that there is 
a right and a wrong about which he has ability to learn. Intu- 
ition does not teach him what things are right and what are 
wrong. This he learns by other j)owers. 

Moral perception and judgment.— iWbraZ perception enables 
him to discover the moral qualities of many very simple acts, 
and states of mind. But the right or wrong of all things 
which demand study, examination, and comparison in order to 
learn their nature, he finds out, just as he finds out other 
matters, by using his thinking poivers, judgment and reason. 
He must be taught concerning these as he is taught reading, 
arithmetic, grammar, or history. He learns standards, laws, 
or rules for right character and conduct, and decides whether 
things are right or wrong by comparing them with these laws 
or rules. These rules are the moral law, so called. 

Conscience. — Conscience, which is the only power peculiar 
to wliat is called the moral nature, is that within the soul 
ivhich insists that we shall do what ive believe to be right at all 
times and binder all circumstances. The judgment, which 
decides of the right and wrong of things, may make mistakes; 
may decide that to be right which is not right, or that to be 
wrong which is not wrong. This may happen through ignor- 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 27 

ance. But conscience is never in error, and is always to be 
obeyed. This is only saying that we should always do what we 
believe to be right. 

Moral feelings. — Obedience to conscience is attended and 
followed hj feelings of satisfaction and self-approval; diso- 
bedience is attended and followed by feelings of dissatisfaction 
and self-condemnation, sometimes by anguish and remorse. 
These feelings are emotions. The affections and desires are 
either good or bad, right or wrong, and, consequently, are a 
part of the moral nature. The same may be said of all 
motives. In many cases an act is good or bad according to the 
character of the motive which prompted it. This is recog- 
nized by parents and by teachers, and even in courts of law. 
The aim of the teacher should be to lead pupils to act uni- 
formly from the best and highest motives. 

The will. Freedom of choice. — The will is a most impor- 
tant factor in the moral nature because it determines all vol- 
untary conduct. Since the will is moved by desire, and desire 
is excited by the various objects about us which we call 
motives, it is sometimes said that we are not free to choose; 
that we are compelled to choose according to what is called 
the strongest motive. This is a very plausible statement, but 
it is eas}^ to discover its fallacy. There is no absolutely 
strongest motive. We can make objects more and more 
attractive by giving attention to them, by thinking of them 
constantly' or frequently. In this way we make them stronger 
motives. We can make objects less and less attractive by 
keeping them out of our thoughts, by turning our backs upon 
them, and thinking of something else. We thus make them 
weaker motives. It requires no arguments to establish this 



28 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

since every one is conscious of possessing power to do so, and 
is also conscious of freedom in choosing. Such freedom is 
recognized everywhere, and children and men are punished 
for bad conduct because of the conviction that they could 
have done otherwise. 

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER II. 

1. Why is it necessary to study the child. 
2 Illustration of the training of a horse. 

3. The child complex, body and mind. 

4. The nervous system; nerves and their offices. 

5. Afferent or sensory nerves; efferent or motor nerves. 

6. The five senses, and the knowledge primarily derived 
through each. 

7. Acquired power of the senses. 

8. The senses instruments of the mind. 

9. The mind. Consciousness. 

10. Relation of consciousness to the senses. 

11. Sensations. Examples. Beginnings of knowledge. 

12. Perception; a percept. 

13. Ideas of space and time: how obtained. 

14. Intuition; axioms. 

15. The group of perceptive powers. 

16. The power and process of representation. 

17. Examples of representation. In school. 

18. Concepts: how they differ from percepts. 

19. Real representation or simple conception. 

20. Ideal representation. Imagination. 

21. Examples of the work of imagination. 

22. Imagination in school work. 



A PKIMER OT PEDAGOGY. 29 

23. Memory: how it usually recalls. 

24. What laws of association are. 

25. Primary and objective laws. 

26. Secondary and subjective laws. 

27. The group of representative powers. 

28. What thinking is, strictly speaking. 

29. Analysis, abstraction, generalization. 

30. General conception; general concepts. 

31. The judgment; a judgment; reasoning. 

32. The group of thinking powers. 

33. Synopsis of the knowing powers. 

34. The feelings, bodily appetites, natural, artificial. 

35. Mental feelings: emotions, affections, desires, complex 
feelings. 

36. Importance of a knowledge of the feelings. 

37. The will: analysis of an act of the will. 

38. Order of the mental processes. 

39. Examples in dealing with a child. 

40. The moral nature: moral intuition, perception, judgment, 
conscience. 

41. The moral feelings. 

42. The will: motives, freedom of choice. 

43. How motives are made stronger and weaker. 

44. Why men are responsible for their conduct. Testimony 
of consciousness. 



30 A PRKuER OF PEDAGOGY. 

CHAPTER III. 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD. 

Development in the plant and animals. — A grain of wheat 
contains in germ everything that grows from it; but the vari- 
ous parts of the plant appear in a regular and uniform order, 
"first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.'' 
In the growth and development of animal life also we discover 
the same unvarying regularity and uaiformity. One power 
and then another, and still another, reaches maturity; the ani- 
mal passes through several stages or periods before he 
becomes, in all respects, a perfect being of his kind. In these 
different stages he requires different degrees of care and 
attention, different kinds of food, and various differing condi- 
tions. The man who raises sheep or cattle seeks to learn 
what is needed during each stage, and, in his work, directs 
liis efforts accordingly. The gardener does the same in cul- 
tivating his plants. The child is subject, like the plant and 
the animal, to conditions and circumstances in his growth and 
development. 

Subject of chapter. — It has been previously stated that the 
processes of development, training, and instruction must go 
on at the same time. It is convenient, however, to consider 
these under the two heads of development and instruction. 
This chapter will treat of development and of some inferences 
and deductions from Ihe order in which this takes place, and 
from the means employed to produce it. These will enable us 
to discover ivhat the character of schools should he, ichat 
teaching is, and what relation the teacher sustaiiis to the irorh 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 31 

of education. Methods of teaching are discussed under the 
head of instruction in the following chapters. 

Use of the term law. — When just the same things take 
place day after day and year after year in a regular and unva- 
rying order, the term law is used to indicate this order, or to 
indicate that which is supposed to be the cause of this regularity 
and uniformity. In this way the laws of nature are spoken of. 
The meaning is that the same events are constantly succeeding 
each other, and that some unchanging power or force causes 
them to do so. 

Laws of development. — As the development of a child, like 
the development of a plant or the unfolding of a flower, pro- 
ceeds w^ith such regularity and uniformity always and every- 
where, if not interfered with by violence or ignorance, we 
may properly speak of laws of development. These laws are 
easily reduced to three, which may be called (1) the law of 
order of development, (2) the law of condition of develop- 
ment, and (3) the law of means of development. The dis- 
cussion which follows will have reference chiefly to the 
development of the intellect or the knowing powers of the 
mind. 

First law. — (1) The law of order of development. The 
mental powers and activities of the child are developed and 
matured in a regular and unvarying order. 

The order. — This order is (1) the perceptive activities, (2) 
the conceptive or representative activities, and (3) the think- 
ing activities. It is not to be understood that one class of 
activities appear and come to a good degree of maturity 
before the next class begins to be manifested. The germs of 
all forms of mental activity exist in the child from the very 



32 A PRIMEK OF PEDAGOaY. 

beginning of life, and nearly all forms of activity show them- 
selves in some degree, even in the 5' oung child. But the pre- 
dominating activities appear in the order named. There is 
first the vigorous activity of the senses, then of memory and 
representation, and lastly of judgment and reason. 

Inferences from this law. — From this law we infer (1) 
that the time of school life is naturally divided into three 
periods, and that each period has certain peculiarities which 
distinguish it from other periods. No sharp line of separa- 
tion can be drawn between the periods. The child passes 
gradually and imperceptibly from one to another. Comenius 
said, truthfully, "nature never moves by leaps." Little by 
little is the universal law in all her operations. 

First period. — (a) The first period is childhood, which is 
characterized by the marked activity of the perceptive powers, 
the senses. The child learns by seeing, hearing, and handling 
things. He forgets easily and reasons very poorly. His judg- 
ment is of little worth. He must he taught chiefly through 
the sejises, and by these he learns with marvelous rapidity. 
His feelings are as variable as the wind, and his conduct as 
capricious as his feelings. No uniformity of behavior can be 
expected of him. 

Second period. — (h) The second period is youth, which is 
characterized by the special activity of the representative 
powers, memory and imagination. The senses are still very 
active, and the thinking powers begin to manifest themselves 
to a considerable degree. During this time the pupil makes 
great progress in those studies which depend upon the mem- 
ory. Language is readily learned; facts are treasured up; 
material of knowledge is gathered; processes are easily mas- 



A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 33 

tered in mathematics and other branches of science. The pupil 
is fond of doing things, but not so fond of explaining the rea- 
sons for the doing. He should he instructed especially through 
the mental poivers ichich are particidarly active. 

Third period. — (c) The third period may be called maturity: 
not, indeed, full maturity, but the beginning of that state. 
The pupil is by this time in the high school, or in the most 
advanced studies of the ungraded school. This period is char- 
acterized by the growing activities of the thinking powers, 
conception, judgment and reason. The senses, as instruments 
for acquiring knowledge, take a subordinate place. The activ- 
ity of memory assumes different form. Things are associated 
by relations which were not discovered or understood in the 
previous periods. Effects are mentally joined with their causes; 
conclusions are united with the premises from which they are 
derived; results are associated with the agents and events 
which produced them. Teaching, both in form and matter, 
must he directed chiefly to the thinking poivers of the student, 
who is no longer a child. 

Second inference. — (2) The second inference is that there 
should be three classes of schools, adapted to the three periods 
of school life, and to the three groups of mental powers. 

First class of schools. — (a) The elementary or primary 
schools constitute the first class. This will include the kinder- 
garten, the lower classes in the graded schools, and the pri- 
mary classes in the ungraded schools. These schools should 
be adapted to the characteristics and needs of pupils in the 
period of childhood in all respects. The schoolroom, the fur- 
niture, blackboards, apparatus, studies, methods of teaching, 
length of lessons and recitations, provisions for physical exer- 



34: A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

cise and recreation, should have reference to the peculiarities 
of young pupils. 

Second class of schools. — (6) The secondary schools properly 
include the higher classes of the grammar departments, the 
lower classes of the high schools, and the advanced classes in 
the ungraded schools. These schools should be adapted, in all 
the particulars previously mentioned, to the characteristics 
and needs of the period of youth. 

Third class of schools. — (c) The advanced schools include 
the most advanced classes in the ordinary high schools, and 
all higher institutions of learning. These must he adapted to 
the needs of students in the period of maturity, and will vary 
in character and arrangements according to the special pur- 
pose of the school. 

Third inference. — (3) The third inference is that methods, 
means, and appliances of teaching are naturally grouped into 
three divisions. 

(a) Elementary methods and appliances, adapted to child- 
hood. 

(5) Secondary methods and appliances, adapted to youth, 
and — 

(c) Advanced methods and appliances, adapted to maturity 
and to the purposes of the institution in which they are em- 
ployed. Methods of instruction are treated in the next chapter. 
It is sufficient to say here that instructors in methods not unf re- 
quently lead their pupils into error by neglecting to keep in 
mind these necessary divisions and distinctions. 

Second law. — (2) Second law, condition of development: 
The powers of the child are developed and matured only on 
condition of being properly exercised. This is true of both of 



A PRIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 35 

the powers of body and mind. Any muscle, any limb, any 
organ of the body, never put to use, fails to become strong and 
vigorous. The same is true of any power of the mind, of the 
senses, the memory, the judgment; of the affections, of the 
will, and of the moral nature. If anything is to be made of 
the child he must, in some way, be induced to act. Activity 
is the law of life, and the activity must be voluntary, or self- 
activity. The child must act because he desires to act, must 
use his senses because he is impelled from within to use them. 
It is the teacher's business to excite the desire by the material 
and methods which he employs. If he fails in this his teach- 
ing is worthless. 

A single inference. — A single inference is drawn from this 
law. Provision should be made in all schools and by all 
teachers to secure appropriate exercise for all the poivers of 
their pupils. The kind of provision which should be made 
will be determined by the character of the school, by the age 
of the pupils, and by surrounding conditions and circum- 
stances. The provision in the primary school and in the kin- 
dergarten must, of course, be very different from that in the 
grammar department or in the high school. In the elementary 
schools care must be taken to provide exercise for the body as 
well as for the mind. 

Third law. — (3) Third law, means of development. Appro- 
priate matter for study properly presented to the mind of 
the child produces this necessary self-activity. 

Illustration, etc. — The law, as here stated, refers only to 
the mental powers. The term matter includes all objects and 
subjects of study in the schools or elsewhere. The natural 
effect of presenting the right kind of matter for study, in the 



36 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

right way, to the perceptive or other mental activities of a 
child may be illustrated by reference to the action of the 
digestive and related organs of the body when food is pre- 
sented to them. If the right kind of food, properly prepared 
and of proper quantity, is introduced into the stomach, the 
digestive organs begin to act of- their own accord at once. 
There is no necessity for coaxing, or threatening, or driving; 
no prizes or rewards are necessary. The healthy child, at the 
table, finds sufficient stimulation in his natural appetite if the 
food is adapted to his age and wants. 

Appetite of the mind. — The mind has an appetite as well 
as the body. In the young child we call this appetite curiosity; 
in the more advanced pupil, love of knowledge. The material 
of knowledge is the food of the mind. The mind enjoys hear- 
ing, seeing, and the action of the other senses, as much as 
the palate enjoys the taste of delicious food in the mouth. 
The thinking powers find as much pleasure in sorting over, 
comparing, and arranging matters of study as the digestive 
organs of the body do in their work. The powers of the mind 
grow, develop, and gain strength and energy, by receiving and 
digesting mental food as the powers of the body do by receiv- 
ing and digesting material food. 

First inference.— (a) The first inference from the third law, 
therefore, is this: The primary relation of Jcnoivledge, that is, 
of all subjects of study, to the education of a child is that of 
means to an end. The end proposed is the complete develop- 
ment, the thorough training, and the proper instructing of the 
pupil. The various studies, presented to the mind in the right 
way and at the right time, excite the mental activities which 
produce these results. 



A PKIMEE OF PEDAGOGY. 37 

Another relation. — Knowledge has also another relation to 
education. It is, to a certain extent, an end in itself; it is 
useful in practical life. Things are taught and learned 
because they will be of service in business, and in various 
ways. So-called practical people usually think only of this 
relation, just as they think of food only as the means of grati- 
fying their appetites. The food, however, serves its primary 
purpose of nourishing the body and securing its development, 
even better, probably, because this purpose is not thought of 
while it is received. So the primary purpose of acquiring 
knowledge is accomplished nearly as well when only the 
secondary purpose is kept in view. Useful knowledge pro- 
motes mental growth and development as well as any other, 
though not always in precisely the same direction. 

Second inference. — (b) The second inference from this law 
gives us a tolerably complete statement of what real teaching 
is. Teaching is presenting appropriate matter for study to 
the learner in such a luay as to excite the necessary and 
proper mental activity, and giving right direction to this 
activity. If this statement is correct, it is easy to see what the 
teacher's work is. It is not, in any strict construction of lan- 
guage, to impart knowledge or to give information. It is rather 
to bring the mind of the pupil and the matter of study, the 
thing to be learned, face to face, so to speak: to place the two 
in such relation that the activities of the mind shall be so 
aroused, excited, and allured that they must and will do their 
proper work, will seize hold upon the thing to be learned and 
will not loosen their grasp until it is mastered. Knowledge is 
not imparted to the child by this process. It is simply put 
within his reach, and he is directed, encouraged, and aided, 



38 A PEIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

BO far as may be necessary, to make it his own. The teacher 
does not feed the child, but helps him to feed himself: does not 
carry him up the hill and over the rough places , but points out 
the path and assists him to walk alone. 

The best teacher. — He is not the best teacher who does the 
most for his pupil, but rather he who enables the child to do 
most for himself . He can do most for the child who knows 
most perfectly the child's nature, and understands the influ- 
ences and motives which impel him to action, and who has 
the practical skill, gained by observation and experience, so 
to touch the sensibilities of the pupil as to bring out the very 
best there is in him — his best mental activity, and his noblest 
moral qualities. 

RECAPITULATION. 

The three laws of development and the inferences from them 
enable us to reach definite conclusions in relation to several 
matters of great practical importance to every teacher who 
wishes to have clear ideas of what schools should be, of what 
real teaching is, and of what his own duties are toward the 
children whom he assumes to instruct and guide. 

1. They determine what the general character of the differ- 
ent classes of schools should be. 

2. They guide in the selection and arrangement of the 
branches and parts of branches of study to be pursued in each 
class of schools. The studies must be adapted to the needs and 
the predominant mental activities of the pupils. 

3. They show the primary and secondary relation of knowl- 
edge to education: first, the relation of means; second, that of 
an end; the two being compatible with each other. 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 39 

4. They help us to see just what real teaching is or should be, 
and what relation it sustains to the education of a child. 

5. This enables us to discover precisely what the work of the 
true teacher is, and what the criterion of excellency in that 
work should be. 

6. These laws determine ivhat should be taught during each 
period of school life, but do not indicate definitely how the 
teaching should be done, that is, do not determine specific 
methods of teaching. 

SUMMARY. 

1. Illustration of development in the plant and animal. 

2. Subject of the chapter, development. 

3. What the inferences from the order of development will 
show us. 

4. Use of the term law; what laws of nature are. 

5. Names of the three laws of development. 

6. State the first law. 

7. Give the order in which the groups of powers are devel- 
oped. 

8. One power not fully developed before another begins to 
be active. 

9. First inference from first law. 

10. The characteristics of the first period of school life. 

11. How the child must be taught during this period. 

12. The characteristics of the second period of school life. 

13. How teaching should be done in this period. 

14. The characteristics of the third period of school life. 

15. How teaching should be directed during this period. 

16. Second inference from the first law. 

17. What the first class of schools should be. 



40 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

18. What the second class should be. 

19. What the third class should be. 

20. Third inference from first law. 

21. The second law of development. 

22. The teacher's duty to excite desire. 

23. The single inference from the second law. 

24. The third law of development. 

25. Illustration by reference to the action of the digestive 
organs of the body. 

26. Appetite of the mind. 

27. First inference from the third law; first relation of 
knowledge to education. 

28. Another relation; the two relations not incompatible. 

29. The second inference from the third law; definition of 
teaching. 

30. Real work of the teacher. 

31. The best teacher. 



CHAPTER IV. 

INSTRUCTION, OR TEACHING AND TRAINING, 

Method. — Method is a way to an end. Hamilton says, " All 
method is a rational progress, a progress toward an end." 

" Method is the way of reaching a given end by a series of acts 
which tend to secure it." 

Methods in teaching. —J/e^/tod.s in teaching are ivays by 
which the teacher seeks to reach desired results. For example, 
the alphabetic, phonic, and word methods are so many dif- 



A PEIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 41 

ferent ways of teaching young children to recognize at sight 
the forms of written and printed words, and to utter correctly 
the sounds indicated by the characters. The method adopted 
will include the whole series of acts and processes involved 
in arranging and teaching a single lesson or in teaching a num- 
ber of consecutive and related lessons. 

What determines methods?— What determines correct 
methods of teaching? and how can these methods be most 
readily and surely learned? The laws of development, as 
alread}' stated, will guide in the selection of matter to be 
studied and taught during the different periods of school life, 
but they do not indicate clearly in ichat icay subjects of study 
should be presented ; that is, they do not determine methods 
of teaching. 

An illustration. — An illustration will show the answer to 
these questions. The student of physical science wishes to 
put what we call the forces of nature to doing some work 
for him ; to make electricity light up the streets of a cit}^ or 
turn the wheels of a street car, or transmit a message 
through a telegraph wire. He first seeks to discover how the 
forces of nature act when left to themselves. He makes 
experiments ; questions, Avatches, waits, listens, and exercises 
long patience. He learns that certain results follow cer- 
tain conditions arranged in a particular way, and that these 
results do not follow any other arrangement of conditions 
or circumstances. After a sufficient number of repetitions he 
becomes satisfied that he has discovered what he names a 
law of nature. He arranges the necessary conditions and 
thus makes nature his servant. His methods are merely 

imitations and copies of nature's methods, and the measure 
6 



42 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

of his success will be determined by the perfection of the 
imitation. The scientist obeys nature in order to command 
her ; in his work he follows her teachings and applies her 
instructions. 

What the true teacher does.— The true teacher imitates 
the scientist. His object is to learn in what way he may 
teach the child most successfully. In order to do this he 
must ascertain in what icay, by ivhat methods, the child 
learns when left to himself. He must discover by intelligent 
observation, by long and patient searching, if need be, what 
forms of activity the child's mind exhibits when acting 
spontaneously without either constraint or restraint. He 
must notice in what order these natural activities manifest 
themselves, what relation appears to exist between them, 
and what conditions and circumstances seem to be neces- 
sary to render their action most fruitful. Having made 
such discoveries, the teacher has only to create the required 
conditions and to follow the mind's own order and methods 
of ivorking. If it is discovered that the mind seeks to grasp 
or take in the material of knowledge in a particular way 
and form, the teacher should present it in that way and 
form. If the mind proceeds to elaborate its knowledge, that 
is, to sort it over, arrange, and classify it, in some 
uniform order and by some specific method, the teacher 
must adopt this order and method in his work of instruction. 
If the mind retains and reproduces its acquisitions through 
the spontaneous action of certain natural laws of associa- 
tion, the teacher must learn these laws and make constant 
use of them in all school exercises. This is a rational inter- 
pretation of the maxim of Comenius that, " Educational 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 43 

methods should follow the order of nature," although it may 
Dot be the usual one. 

Conclusion. — We reach this conclusion : Methods of teach- 
ing are determined by the natural modes of the mind's 
activity. The teacher's ways of working must conform to the 
mind's ways of working. Right methods of teaching are 
such as follow the path along which the mind goes when free 
to choose its own way, incited by its innate love of activity. 
This is "following nature." This leads us to inquire concern- 
ing some of the most important and characteristic forms 
or modes of mental activity and the methods of teaching 
deduced from them. 

General forms of mental action. — Some forms of mental 
action are common to all periods of life, to all stages of devel- 
opment, and to all conditions and circumstances. These are 
essentially the same in nature in the child and in the man. 
They differ only in degree and in productiveness. 

Special forms of mental action. — Some other forms of men- 
tal activity are peculiar to particular periods of life, to special 
stages of development, and to peculiar conditions and circum- 
stances. Childhood has its own peculiar physical activities, 
and so also have youth and maturity. 

General laws of mind. — Statements of these universal or 
general modes of mental action may he called general laws 
of mind. From these general laws of mind equally general 
laws of teaching may be deduced. These laws of teaching are, 
in substance, descriptions of methods of teaching. 

Four such laws. — These general laws of mind are easily 
reduced to four; the first relates to the method by which the 
mind grasps or receives knowledge; the second relates to the 



44 



A PEIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 



metliod ivhich the mind employs in assimilating or arrang- 
ing its knowledge in proper order so that raiv material becomes 
real knoivledge; the third relates to the methods or processes 
by which the mind is able to retain and reproduce its acqui- 
sitions when it wishes to use them; and the fourth relates to 
certain conditions necessary in Order that the mind may do 
the best work of ivhich it is capable. 

That the relation between them may be readily seen, the 
laws of mind and the corresponding laws of teaching are 
arranged side by side. 



GENERAL LAWS OF MIND. 

I. First Law of Mind. 
The mind, at all periods of 

development, grasps or re- 
ceives the material of knowl- 
edge, or that which it is learn- 
ing, in the form of wholes or 
aggregates and masses, as far 
as this is possible. 

II. Second Lau- of Mind. 

a. In studjang, thinking over, 
and arranging the matter which 
it has received, the mind pro- 
ceeds first from wholes to parts, 
from aggregates and masses to 
elements, thus attaining com- 
plete and definite knowledge. 
This process is analysis. 

h. Afterwards the mind pro- 
ceeds to put these parts and 



GENERAL LAWS OF TEACHING. 

I. First Law of Teaching. 
The teacher should present 

the material of knowledge, or 
that which is to be taught, to 
the mind of the learner in the 
form of wholes or aggregates 
and masses, as far as this is 
possible. 

II. Second Laiv of Teaching. 

a. The teacher, in aiding the 
learner to acquire definite and 
complete knowledge, should 
proceed first by analysis, from 
wholes to parts, and from ag- 
gregates and masses to ele- 
ments, giving full explana- 
tions and illustrations. 

b. Afterwards he should 
teach how these parts and 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 45 



elements together into new 
wholes and aggregates, in this 
way increasing its knowledge 
and making it productive. 
This process is synthesis. 



elements may be put together 
by synthesis, into new wholes 
and aggregates, and should 
give the pupil much practice 
in this work. 



Fundamental laws. — These are the great fundamental laws 
of learning and teaching. Their application covers a large 
part of the teacher's work in all classes of schools. It is there- 
fore desirable to be sure that these statements are correct, 
and that the mind does proceed in the order named, first ana- 
lyzing and then reuniting. 

How the senses present knowledge. — The senses are the 
activities through which the mind gets the beginnings of all 
its knowledge. In what form or condition do the senses pre- 
sent things to the mind? Our own experience enables us to 
answer at once. If an object, like an apple or an orange, 
which affects several of the senses, is brought before us, all the 
senses affected respond simultaneously. Sensations of sight, 
touch, taste and smell force themselves in upon the mind in a 
confused mass. We have at first only a very general and very 
confused idea of the object. We have a great number of par- 
tial and imperfect percepts, such as one gets from a single and 
hasty glance. We have yet no real knowledge. What takes 
place ? The mind proceeds immediately and spontaneously to 
examine the sensations one by one, now giving attention to 
the color, the form, the size; now to the character of the sur- 
face, whether it be smooth or rough ; now to the hardness or 
softness; now to the smell and taste. This process of analysis 
goes on until every quality or characteristic which can affect 
any one of the senses has been, in turn, thoroughly investi- 
gated. The idea of the object is no longer confused and indis- 



46 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

tinct. The final, complete percept has become a collection of 
individual elements, each of which can be made, and has been 
made a separate object of thought. Synthesis here has per- 
haps almost unconsciously, followed the analysis. The object 
has been, so to speak, taken to pieces and put together again. 

Examples. — Essentially the same processes take place when- 
ever any new object of perception is presented to the senses as 
a body, or to any single sense. When listening to a choir of 
singei's or to the music of an orchestra, a great aggregate of 
mingled sounds of voices or instruments strikes simultaneously 
upon the ear, and produces a confused mass of sensations. It 
is only by fixing the attention on the tones of single voices or 
the notes of particular instruments that we attain anything 
like definite knowledge. 

How the child gains knowledge. — The child till he enters 
school, is constantly gaining knowledge in this way, is analy- 
zing wholes and aggregates to find their parts and elements. 
Thus he learns trees, and flowers, and fruits, indeed all things 
about him. This is Nature's method of instruction. Progress 
is not " from the simple to the complex," but rather " from the 
complex to the simple." 

Hamilton. — Hamilton says: *' The first procedure of the 
mind in the elaboration of its knowledge is always analytical. 
It descends from the whole to the parts, from the vague to the 
definite. Having first acquired a comprehensive knowledge 
(that is, a general notion) of a thing as a whole, we can descend 
to its several parts, consider these both in themselves and in 
relation to each other, and to the wholes of which they are con- 
stituents, and thus attain to a complete and articulate knowl- 
edge of the object." 



A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. ' 47 

Caution. — A word of caution may be necessary. It is easy 
to misinterpret or misapply a general truth or rule. A whole 
may be too great for the senses or the mind to grasp by one 
effort. A whole of sight must be limited to the field of distinct 
vision. The whole presented to any sense cannot be extended 
beyond the reach of that sense. A great whole is often sus- 
ceptible of natural division into several lesser wholes, each com- 
plete in itself. It is only necessary that there be a complete- 
ness and unity. " The whole may be a whole man, or only his 
face, or his eye, or the pupil of his eye, or even a mere speck 
upon the pupil." The whole, in each case, will be determined 
by the purpose in view, by the end to be attained. 

Illustrations. — A few examples will illustrate how the teacher 
may apply these two laws, which require us to begin with a 
whole, and proceed first by analysis and then by synthesis. 

Teaching reading.— Of the various methods of teaching 
young children to read, the alphabetic and phonic are synthetic. 
The first begins with elements addressed to the eye,— letters; 
the second begins with elements addressed to the ear, — sounds. 
Both proceed to combine elements to form wholes, words and 
sentences. Two other methods, though the two are really but 
one, the word and the sentence methods, are analytic, begin- 
ning with wholes in the form of single words or short sen- 
tences. These words are then separated into their elements, 
single letters and sounds, by analysis; afterwards these ele- 
ments are combined to form new words and sentences. 

From the known to the unknown. — In all teaching the 
maxim, ^'Proceed from the known to the unknown,'" rightly 
interpreted, should be followed. Suppose the maxim to mean 
this: When presenting a new lesson, or a new subject, to a 



48 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

child, make ichat the child already knows the starting point, 
and from this lead him, hy natural and easy steps, to gras2:> 
and master the new, the now unknown thing. The unknown, 
selected as the point of departure, should be chosen with careful 
reference to some obvious relation existing between it and the 
unknown thing which is to be learned. 

The known to the child in the reading lesson. — The child, 
commencing to learn to read, knows many objects, qualities, 
acts, and relations of things; and he also knows the spoken 
names or signs of all these. The spoken signs, that is, the 
words; are known as wholes; and the words and what they 
represent are thoroughly associated in the mind so that either 
will immediately suggest the other. So much is the unknown. 
The unknown consists of a set of new signs, addressed to the 
eye, that is, written or printed words. These are to be learned 
and mentally associated with the spoken words and also with 
the objects and acts which they represent. The spoken word 
is here the starting point. The step from this to the written 
word, taken as a whole, is short, direct and easy. It conforms 
to the law : Begin with the whole. 

First step. — Teach first, tlierefore, a number of words or 
short sentences as wholes. This work can be done most effect- 
ively by the use of the blackboard and crayon. The maxim, 
''One thing at a time,'" should be kept in mind. Do not try to 
teach too many new words at one lesson. Sometimes a single 
new word will be enough. When the new words have certain 
similarities to words already taught, several may be included 
in a lesson, perhaps three or four. Suppose the sentence, Tlie 
hoy runs, has been taught. Taking this as a beginning, intro- 
duce new words to form the sentences, The girl runs, The 



A PEIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 49 

horse runs, The dog runs, and so on indefinitely. The sentence 
may be varied in other ways; as: The boy ivalJcs, The boy 
sits, The boy stands; or, after several nouns and verbs have 
been learned, in this way: The boy runs up the hill; The boy 
runs down the hill; The boy runs over the hill. Another 
change should be made, at the proper time, by introducing the 
plural number, as: The hoys run. The attention of the class 
should be directed to the slight changes in the forms of the 
words, and several sentences should be taught to illustrate 
these changes. 

These examples are sufficient to show what is meant by 
beginning with a whole in teaching young children to read. 
This method imitates and follows nature, and it also goes from 
the known to the unknown in a natural way. This is merely 
the first step, however. 

The second step. — The second step is to analyze or sepa- 
rate the words, which have been learned as ivholes, into their 
parts or elements; that is, into the separate letters and sounds 
of which they are composed. Until this is done they are not 
thoroughly learned. This analysis should be made clear both 
to the eye and ear. For example, the word dog may be written 
on the board in the usual form, and pronounced in the usual 
manner. Then it may be written with the letters separated 
thus: d o g, and the sound of each letter may be uttered separ- 
ately and distinctly. In this way, or in some other, if a differ- 
.ent way is preferred, the work of analysis should be carried on 
until all the letters are learned, and most of the elementary 
sounds. The diacritical marks will very naturally be taught 
and learned in connection with this analysis. 

The third step. — Pupils are now prepared, if the work thus 
7 



50 ' A PRIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 

far has been thoroughly done, to begin the third step, the syn- 
thetic work. This consists in putting together these parts and 
elements to form new luords. The child is now able to learn 
new words with very little assistance. His progress from this 
point should be comparatively easy and rapid. Analysis pre- 
pares the way for synthesis. Real teaching usually involves 
both processes. 

The laws applied to lessons in language. — Lessons in read- 
ing are lessons in language, and instruction in reading pre- 
pares the way for more specific and formal instruction in 
language. The laws which we are considering, require such 
instruction to begin ivith the sentence, which is the natural 
unit of language. Begin (1) by teaching children to express 
their ideas about common and familiar objects in correct oral 
sentences. Give much practice in this, guiding them by ques- 
tions and suggestions, to form all the various kinds of simple 
sentences. If mistakes are made, lead them, as far as possible, 
to make corrections for themselves. 

Give practice. — (2) As soon as children are able to write with 
some facility, give them abundant practice in loriting senten- 
ces of all hinds. Interest in this work will be increased by 
having the sentences united to form connected descriptions and 
short stories. Simple stories may be read or told by the teacher 
or by some of the pupils, and the children may reproduce these, 
sometimes orally, sometimes in writing. This kind of language 
work, with natural variations and additions, should be con- 
tinued through all the primary grades. Sentences of all forms 
and varieties are thus learned as wholes. 



A PEIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 51 

Analysis. — (3) After a good degree of facility in construct- 
ing sentences has been acquired, the work of analysis should 
he commenced. First the main parts of sentences, the subject 
and the predicate, should be learned; then, one after another, 
the various s modifiers; and finally all the parts of speech with 
their variations of form and use. This part of the vs^ork should 
not be hastened, and everything should be made as clear as 
possible. 

Synthesis. — (4) The synthetic work, which consists in put- 
ting together the elements of sentences to for7n new sentences, 
should he commenced in connection with th-e analysis, or as 
soon as the elements and parts are well understood. Exer- 
cises in forming sentences containing particular nouns, verbs, 
adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and so on, will be profitable 
and interesting, j^s pupils advance in their work the synthetic 
processes will include the writing of stories, essays, and descrip- 
tions of various kinds. 

The productive work.— It should be observed that here, as 
in all studies, the analytic work is, in reality, only prepara- 
tory to the synthetic. The latter is the productive work. Too 
much time and labor are frequently spent upon analysis, and 
too little upon the constructive processes. The ability to take 
things to pieces is of less value than the skill which helps one 
to put them together, or to make similar new things. 

Lack of space prevents the application of these general laws 
to methods of teaching other branches of study, but the intel- 
ligent teacher can easily apply them for himself. 



52 A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 



III. Third law of mind. 
The mind retains and repro- 
duces what it has learned by 
natural principles or laws of 
association. The effectiveness 
of these laws is increased by 
certain conditions of mind and 
body. 



III. Third law of teaching. 

The teacher, in arranging les- 
sons and in giving instruction, 
should have constant reference 
to the natural laws of associa- 
tion, and should endeavor to 
produce in his pupils proper 
conditions of mind and body. 



Laws of association. — The most important of these laws 
and conditions have been mentioned in treating of the mental 
activities under memory. They are similarity, contrast, and 
contiguity. The law of contiguity embraces a large number 
of relations such as the sign and thing signified; cause and 
effect; subject and attribute; whole and parts, and many 
others. 

What this la"w covers. — This third law covers the whole 
subject of the development and cultivation of the memory, a 
subject of the highest importance both to scholars and teach- 
ers. Knowledge is of little practical value unless it can be 
recalled when wanted. It is the teachers business to see that 
lessons are so assigned and so learned that the matter of them 
can be reproduced. The undue prominence given to memory 
by some old methods of teaching has created a disposition, in 
some quarters, to undervalue its proper cultivation. 

Upon what memory depends.— The power to retain and 
recall our acquisitions depends upon (1) the depth, vividness, 
and distinctness of the impression made upon the mind, and 
(2) upon the formation of proper associations or connections 
between the new knowledge and something previously learned; 



A PKIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 53 

or, when this is not possible, between different things learned 
at the same time. It is better to make the association between 
the new and the old, and usually this can be done. 

Upon what the impression depends. — The character of the 
impression made upon the mind depends primarily and chiefly 
upon (1) the sort of attention given in the learning, and sec- 
ondarily (2) upon repetition. Intense and absorbing attention 
produces an effect upon the mind which may be compared to 
that produced upon some yielding substance by a single heavy 
and vigorous stroke of a sharp-pointed hammer. One blow is 
sufficient to secure the necessary impression. The effect of 
repetition is like that produced by a great number of light 
strokes. Each blow increases the depth a little. Many strokes 
are necessary to produce the desired impression. A single act 
of intense attention may be sufficient for older students, but 
young children must have an abundance of repetitions. 

Suggestions as to attention. — Since securing and com- 
manding attention is one of the most effective means of culti- 
vating and improving the memory, a few suggestions in 
relation to attention will be in place at this point. 

1. The teacher should keep in mind the fact that the atten- 
tion of young children is, to a very large extent, non-voluntary; 
that is, the attention is not directly under the control of the 
will. Inattention on their part is not evidence of great per- 
versity of disposition or character. 

2. While the attention of children may be arrested and 
directed for a short time by commands and requests, it cannot 
be held by such means. Appropriate allurements and entice- 
ments must be employed. Objects of study must be made as 
attractive as possible; curiosity must be excited, and the love 
of variety must be gratified. 



54 A PRIMER OF PEDAaOGT. 

3. Attention follows interest. If the teacher is alive and 
thoroughly interested, full of enthusiasm, these feelings will 
be communicated to the children by the natural power of sym- 
pathy. The teacher's interest will usually create interest in 
pupils. 

4. Make only reasonable demands upon the attention of 
young children. All lessons and exercises should be shorty 
ivith frequent intervals c^ relaxation and with much physical 
exercise. 

5. In dealing with advanced pupils treat them as if you 
expected attention from them. Assume that they are ready 
and willing to give it. Teachers, like other people, usually find 
what they look for and anticipate. 

6. Conduct recitations so as to make constant attention nec- 
essary on the part of every scholar. Questions should generally 
be put to the class as a whole, and then individuals should be 
called upon to answer them. At any point in the recitation 
call for statements previously made, or for a summary of the 
work already done. Speak distinctly, but in a natural and 
ordinary tone of voice, and do not fall into the habit of repeat- 
ing questions and statements over and over. Let it be under- 
stood that questions are to be stated but once. 

The second point. — The second matter to be considered in 
the training of memory is the fortnation of proper and effect- 
ive connections or associations, the uniting of new knowledge 
to what has been already fixed in mind, and the uniting of the 
various parts of the new matter so that any one part will be 
sure to suggest all the rest. 

How the union is effected —This union of the different 
parts will be effected by arranging and presenting them in 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 55 

some natural order under the law of contiguity so that the 
first suggests the second, the second the third, and so on. In 
many cases the laws of similarity and contrast will determine 
the order. In such case one law reinforces another and the 
union is rendered still stronger. Suppose, for example, one 
wishes to fix in memory the names of ten xDersons or places 
which have no apparent relation to each other. Any one of 
several methods of arrangement may be adopted. They may 
be arranged alphabetically, that is so that the initial letters 
follow each other in alphabetical order. This is a good 
arrangement if nothing more is desired than to retain the 
names. Here we follow an order which repetition alone has 
made familiar. 

End in view to be regarded. — If the names are names of 
cities, and the desire should be not only to fix the names but 
also to indicate, at the same time, their relative size, the words 
should be arranged in the order of population, the names of 
the most populous being placed first. If the words are names 
of men, they may be arranged in the order of age, or in the 
order of notoriety. The particular order adopted in any 
given case must he determined by the end in vieiv. 

Laws in arithmetic. — In teaching primary arithmetic the 
laws of similarity and contrast are especially useful, and 
should be kept constantly in mind by the teacher. Similarity 
is noticed in the increase in value of figures from right to 
left, in the separation of figures with periods, in the repetition 
of figures in writing numbers above ten, and in many other 
points. The similarity of multiplication and addition will 
suggest that they be taught in connection. 



56 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

The law of contrast will cause subtraction to be taught in 
connection with addition, and division with multiplication. 
Similarity will unite subtraction and division. The third gen- 
eral law of mind and of teaching seems to require that the 
four so-called fundamental operations in arithmetic be taught 
and learned simultaneously. 

Elementary reading. — In teaching elementary reading the 
first law of association employed is that which binds together 
the sign, that is the name, with the things signified, the object, 
act, and so forth. The end sought in teaching, at this time, 
is to make this association so firm that the thing will instantly 
suggest the sign, or the sign the thing, and also to associate 
the oral sign or word with the written one so thoroughly that 
either will immediately suggest the other. The child is not 
prepared to use a book profitably until this has been accom- 
plished. 

The law of similarity also does valuable service in the early 
stages of this work, as it does in the more advanced stages. 
If the form and sound of the letters at have been learned in 
the word cat, they should be recognized at once in the new 
words presented, such as hat, sat, rat, mat. If the sentence 
I have a hook, has been taught, then the similaritj^ of such 
sentences as: You have a book, We have a book, and so on, 
will make the work of learning very easy. Examples might 
be multiplied, but these are sufficient to show in what direc- 
tion the teacher's duty lies. This law of similarity is of con- 
stant service in all language work from the lowest to the 
highest grades, and should be observed in the preparation and 
arrangement of all lessons. 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 57 

In geography. — In geography things are grouped together, 
to a large extent, under the laws of similarity and contrast; 
but the law of contiguity is of especial service. Rivers are 
learned and associated readily by following coast lines. Towns 
and cities are associated in the same way, or by following 
lines of railroads. Persons, places, and events are associated 
together; industries are associated with the places where they 
are carried on; agricultural and other products with the locali- 
ties which produce them. 

In history. — The associations employed in teaching history 
are made by the laws used in geography. In more advanced 
historical work the law of cause and effect is of much service; 
events are traced backwards to their causes, or onward to their 
consequences; the characters of men are associated with the 
conditions which fashioned them, and with their nfiuence 
upon the age in which they lived and upon subsequent ages. 

Other branches of study. — Without particular reference to 
other branches of study, these illustrations are sufficient to 
indicate how memory is to be cultivated, and what the teacher 
should attempt to do in all lessons. Much teaching and many 
lessons amount to nothing because no proper use is made of 
the principles of association. All valuable training of the 
memory depends upon m,aking such arrangement of the mat- 
ter to he remembered, and producing such conditions that the 
mind can act freely and vigorously according to its own 
natural laws of association. Artificial systems for cultivating 
and increasing the power of memory have very little value. 



58 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 



IV. Fourth law of teacJmig. 
The teacher should present 
only a properly limited amount 
of matter to the mind of a 
pupil at one time, and should 
provide for sufficient variety 
in subjects of study and for 
periods of relaxation and rest. 



IV. Fourth laio of mind. 

The mind can receive only a 
limited amount of matter at one 
time, and in order to secure the 
most vigorous and productive 
activity the mind must have 
some variety in subjects of 
study and periods of relaxation 
and rest. 

No definite rules. — No definite rules can be given in respect 
to the length of lessons in different branches of study. Only 
general suggestions can be offered, but the subject is impor- 
tant enough to demand careful consideration. As a rule, young 
and inexperienced teachers give longer lessons than older and 
more experienced ones. 

Things to be considered. — Several things must be taken 
into account: (1) The general ability and previous training 
of a class. Considerable differences are found in the average 
ability of different classes; (2) the nature of the study. Some 
studies require more time and thought than others; (3) the 
number of studies pursued by a class at the same time. A 
class with only two or three studies can take longer lessons 
than one with four or more; (4) the time given to a recitation. 
A recitation occupying thirty or forty minutes may properly 
cover more ground than one confined to fifteen or twenty 
minutes; (5) the method of teaching. Some so-called teachers 
merely hear recitations; others do some actual teaching. As 
a rule it requires more time to teach than it does simply to 
listen while pupils repeat what they have learned. It should 
be understood, both by teachers and scholars, that the number 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 59 

of pages of a text-book "gone over" is no certain criterion of 
the actual progress made bj a class. A small amount of mat- 
ter thoroughly mastered is worth more than twice the amount 
"skimmed over" and not half learned. Generally only one 
or two really important points should be included in a single 
lesson for young children. The concentration of attention^ 
thought, and effort upon one thing at one time is the prime 
condition of fruitfid study. 

Assignment of lessons. — Lessons should be assigned with 
great care, especially to young children. It is not sufficient to 
say take so many pages or so many paragraphs. The precise 
thing to be learned should be pointed out, and all matters of 
special importance should be indicated. Children often waste 
much time in fruitless effort because they are not properly 
directed. It is safe to say that no teacher can assign a lesson 
wisely unless he has himself thoroughly and freshly prepared 
it. 

Rest and change important. — The importance of relaxation 
and rest of mind can hardly be overestimated. The efficiency 
and productiveness of any form of mental activity depend 
very largely, indeed almost entirely, upon the freshness and 
vigor of the mind. Scholars sometimes estimate their merits 
as students by the number of times a lesson has been studied 
over, or by the number of hours occupied in so-called study- 
ing. One might as well estimate his merits as a traveler by 
the number of hours spent on the road. The prime factor 
both in study and travel is the rate of speed; and the rate 
must, in most cases, depend upon the freshness of the student 
or the traveler. The aim of every student should be to acquire 
the power to do a certain amount of mental labor in the short- 



60 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

est time in ivhich it can he well done. The aim of the teacher 
should be to help the pupil in the acquisition of this power. 
He will do this most effectively by teaching him how to work, 
how to study, and how to secure relaxation and rest. We are 
here considering the resting. 

Sleep.— (1) Perfect rest, either of body or mind, is found 
only in natural and profound sleep. Such sleep usually appears 
to be dreamless. So-called sleep, induced by drugs or other 
artificial means, lacks the curative and restorative power of 
natural sleep. It is now generally admitted that "brain- 
workers" need as much sleep as men engaged in hard manual 
labor. The average required, according to the best authori- 
ties, is about eight hours out of the twenty-four, A temporary 
gain may seem to be secured by reducing the hours of sleep, 
but the result, in the end, is usually a real loss. 

Physical exercises. — (2) Next to sleep, appropriate forms of 
physical exercise afford the best mental relaxation. Such 
exercises must be adapted to the age, to the condition of the 
body, to the j)revious habits of the individual, and to sur- 
rounding circumstances. The important consideration is that 
the form of exercise shall occupy the attention without severely 
taxing the mental poioers. 

In school. — In the primary school lessons and physical exer- 
cise of some appropriate kind should alternate. Lessons should 
be short, full of energj^ and life, and so conducted as to com- 
mand and absorb every thought and energy of the children. 
Equally absorbing periods of physical exercise should follow. 
In more advanced grades light gymnastics, calisthenics, and 
other forms of exercise should be introduced as much as cir- 
cumstances will permit. 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 61 

Alternation of studies.— (3) In all grades, but especially 
in the high school, mental relaxation and relief must be 
obtained by suitable alternation of studies. Provision must be 
made for such alternation ia the program of recitations and 
other exercises. Opportunity should be given, as far as pos- 
sible, for the exercise in turn of the three typical modes of 
mental activity, the perceptive, the representative, and the 
thinking. 

Mathematics. — Mathematical studies, after the elementary 
stage is passed, call into exercise particularly the thinking 
process of comparing, judging, and reasoning, together with 
some forms of representation. They appeal very little to sepse- 
perception. 

Sciences. — The natural and physical sciences, such as botany 
and physics, when taught by modern methods, excite the 
activity of perception to a high degree, and do not tax the 
other powers severely, although the processes of classification 
are constantly carried on. 

Geography and history. — Geography and history appeal 
primarily to the representative powers, simple conception, 
imagination and memory. When taught, in advanced classes, 
with reference to causes, consequences, and the broad general- 
izations, they exercise the thinking powers very fully. Per- 
ception is not much exercised. 

Reading and language. — Reading, language and literature 
exercise in a marked degree conception, imagination, judg- 
ment, and taste, which is a form of judgment with an inter- 
mingling of emotion and other feelings. 

Order of recitation. — Keeping in view the mental activities 
exercised by the different branches of study, it will be easy to 



62 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

provide for the necessary alterations of psychical action. 
The order in a program may be greatly varied. It may be 
reading, arithmetic, grammar; or mathematics, science, lan- 
guage, as geometry, zoology or botany, Latin or literature, or 
any one of several other possible arrangements. As a rule, 
studies which demand vigorous and protracted thinking, and 
very close and accurate analysis, should be placed in the early 
part of the day ; and those lessons which require only a moder- 
ate degree of mental exertion and allow considerable exercise 
of body, should be placed near the close of the day. Yet the 
difficult and the easy, the heavy and the light should be inter- 
spersed, to some extent, throughout the entire program. 

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER IV. 

1. Method defined, methods in teaching. 

2. What determines methods. Illustration. 

3. What the true teacher does. 

4. General forms of mental activity. 

5. Special forms of mental activity. 

6. General laws of mind and of teaching. 

7. First law of mind; first law of teaching. 

8. Second law of mind; second law of teaching. 

9. What analysis is; what synthesis is. 

10. How the senses present knowledge to the mind. 

11. Examples of the action of the senses. 

12. How the young child gets knowledge at home. 

13. Hamilton's statements; caution. 

14. Illustrations of the application of these laws to teaching 
reading, language, etc. 

15. Meaning of the maxim: '* Proceed from the known to 
the unknown." 



A PitlMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 63 

16. Steps in teaching primary reading. 

17. Steps in teaching language. 

18. What the productive work is. 

19. Third law of mind; third law of teaching. 

20. Laws of association. What the third law covers. 

21. Upon what the power of memory depends. 

22. Upon what depth of impression depends. 

23. Suggestions as to attention. 

24. How associations of objects and ideas are formed. 

25. Laws of association used in primary arithmetic; in read- 
ing and language; in geography and history. 

26. Fourth law of mind; fourth law of teaching. 

27. As to rules for length of lessons. Points to be con- 
sidered. 

28. Assignment of lessons. 

29. Importance of mental rest and relaxation. 

30. Sleep; physical exercises; alternation of studies. 

31. Mental activities exercised in the study of mathematics; 
of sciences; of geography and history; of reading and language. 

32. Suggested order of studies in a program. 



CHAPTER V. 

INSTRUCTION, OR TEACHING AND TRAINING. 
CONTINUED. 

Special laws of mind and of teaching. — As previously 
indicated, each period of life has some forms of mental 
activity peculiar to itself. These different forms appear 
at all periods, indeed, but do not exhibit the same rela- 



64 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 



tive degree of prominence and vigor. Statements of these 
forms of activity give us what may be called subordinate or 
special laics of mind; and inferences from these laws of mind 
afford subordinate or special laivs of teaching. These special 
laws of teaching include the substance of many of the so-called 
"educational maxims," some of w^hich are found as far back 
as the time of Comenius. Harm has been done, in some cases, 
by efforts to elevate these subordinate laws or maxims to the 
rank and position of universal or general truths. 

Correlated laws. — As a matter of convenience, and also as 
an aid to the memory, several of these laws, both of mind and 
of teaching, are here presented in two correlated parts, one 
part referring to an earlier, the other to a later period of men- 
tal development. 



SPECIAL LAWS OF MIND. 

1. (a) In his early learning 
the child must begin with the 
concrete, that is, with objects, 
acts and qualities; these cause 
the production of ideas; words 
are then needed as signs, to 
name and describe the objects 
and ideas. The order is (1) 
objects, (2) ideas, (3) words. 

(b) Later, when words and 
the things which they signify 
have become thoroughly asso- 
ciated, the learner begins, in 
many cases, with words, as the 
signs of things. These cause 
the production in the mind of 



SPECIAL LAWS OF TEACHINd. 

1. (a) In teaching young- 
children the teacher should 
begin with the concrete, that 
is, with objects, acts and quali- 
ties; should excite curiosity 
and help the production of 
ideas; should then teach words, 
as signs, to name and describe 
the objects and ideas. 

(b) In later periods, when 
words and the things which 
they signify have become asso- 
ciated, the teacher should be- 
gin, in many cases, with 
words, and through these se- 
cure the formation of correct 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 65 



images, pictures, or ideas of 
whatever the words signify. 
The state of mind is naturally 
followed by the proper expres- 
sion and description of these 
images and ideas. 



mental images, pictures, or 
ideas of whatever the words 
signify, and then guide the 
pupil in the proper expression 
or description of these images 
and ideas. 



The first part of these laws refers to the strict elementary 
period of the child's school life. To this period such maxims 
as the following apply: From the concrete to the abstract. 
Things before words. The second maxim should be amended 
to read. Things and words. One leading purpose of the 
teacher, at this stage, is to render the association between 
objects, ideas and words so perfect that either will enable 
the child to recall the others instantly. The child is learning 
mainly through his senses, and the teaching must be directed 
accordingly. 

Object teaching. — Object teaching belongs here, and also 
objective teaching. The two should be carefully distinguished. 
The first is teaching objects themselves, their means, their 
parts, of what they are composed, their uses, and whatever 
may be of interest or value concerning them. 

Objective teaching. — Objective teaching, on the other hand, 
makes use of objects merely as convenient means of reaching 
some desired end, as when numbers are taught by the use of 
sticks, crayons, pebbles or any other things which can be 
handled and counted, or geography is taught by the use of 
sand or clay. Objective teaching may be profitably employed 
in all branches of study in the primary grades, and in some 
branches in the higher grades. 

Use of object lessons. — Object lessons, properly conducted, 
9 



66 A PRIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 

are especially valuable for developing and training the activity 
of the senses, and for creating the habit of observing. No 
power of the mind is developed and trained except by fitting 
exercise. In order to secure such exercise means and oppor- 
tunities must be supplied. The senses can he trained only by 
giving them something to do. The eye learns to see by seeing; 
the ear by hearing; and the other senses become skillful in 
their peculiar work by doing it. The same law holds true in 
all manual training. But proper instruction and direction 
are necessary in all cases. Both the senses and the hands need 
io be guided. It is the teacher's business to give the proper 
instruction, direction, and guidance. So much being granted, 
the maxim of Comenius is true: "Let things that have to be 
done be learned by doing them. 

Bad object lessons. — Object lessons may be so conducted as 
to be worse than useless. This is the case when children are 
required to learn and repeat, in a mechanical way, long lists 
of names of parts, qualities, characteristics, and uses of 
objects, all of which they know before entering school. So 
far from cultivating and quickening the activity of the 
senses, this method of teaching really tends to produce 
''artificial stupidity," the senses are dulled by it. 

Children must use their own senses. — Children must be 
allowed to see, hear, taste, smell, and touch for themselves, 
and not be taught simply to repeat what the teacher sees and 
hears. But they should be so directed that they will learn to 
observe with order, regularity, accuracy, and finally with 
rapidity. Beginning with objects of which the children have 
some general but very indefinite knowledge, the genuine 
teacher will lead her pupils to discover for themselves parts. 



A PRIMER OF PEDA0OG-T. 6Y 

qualities, characteristics, and other peculiarities which have 
hitherto entirely escaped their hasty and careless notice. An 
old object is thus transformed into a new one, and invested 
with a species of enchantment. The common-place world, in 
which the children have been living, is suddenly changed into 
a world of wonders, marvels, and charms at the skillful touch 
of an inspiring teacher. The value of this work does not con- 
sist in the little knowledge gained by the pupils, but in the 
acquired power of perceiving and in the acquired habit of 
accurate and rapid observation. 

Final result. — The final result is that the child comes to 
observe almost or quite unconsciously; he sees and hears with- 
out effort, and thus acquires a vast amount of useful and 
interesting knowledge with no expenditure of time or labor, 
and with positive and constantly increasing pleasure. This is 
the development and training of the perceptive powers; the 
opening of the gate- ways of the soul; the bringing of the mind 
and of the material of knowledge face to face, which consti- 
tutes, as previously stated, real teaching. This is Mr. Page's 
"waking up the mind." 

Some questions on observation. — How many young people, 
even teachers, who have lived all their lives in the country, 
surrounded with trees, fruits, and flowers, can draw or describe 
the forms of the leaves of the different kinds of trees? can tell 
the names of the common flowers by the roadside? or how 
many petals the apple or pear blossom has ? or what the uses 
of the corn tassels are ? or how new varieties of potatoes are 
produced ? 

Examples of concrete lessons. — Concrete teaching may be 
extended with great profit and interest far beyond the use of 



68 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

simple objects in giving the first lessons in numbers. Older 
children are fond of concrete examples in arithmetic. A class 
may be set to measuring the floor of the schoolroom and to 
determining the number of square feet in it; the same may 
be done in respect to the sides and ceiling of the room. The 
number of cubic feet contained in the room may be calculated, 
and the number of cubic feet for each scholar. These and 
similar problems have an interest for pupils which mere 
abstract questions do not possess. 

More examples. — At different seasons of the year questions 
relating to familiar matters may be suggested. For example, 
pupils a little advanced in arithmetic may be asked to deter- 
mine the number of stalks of wheat on an acre of ground, 
being instructed to count the stalks on a few square feet in 
different parts of the field so as to ascertain the average 
number, on one square foot. In the same way the number of 
hills of corn on an acre may be calculated, or the number of 
forest trees on a certain number of acres. Such examples 
may be multiplied almost indefinitely in a farming district. In 
a lumber region a different class of examples would naturally 
be devised, and in a mining section still a different sort, and 
so on, the particular examples being varied according to con- 
ditions and surroundings. 

Spelling lessons. — Lessons in spelling may frequently be 
made from objects, by taking the name of an object, the 
names of the parts, words denoting the uses of the object, and 
other words suggested by the object or associated with it. 
Such lessons may be made lessons in language as well as in 
spelling. 



A PEIMER OF PEDAGOGY. - 69 

Second part of these laws. — The second part of these laws 
refers to the work of the secondary stage of learning and 
teaching. However, it must always be kept in mind that 
the transition of the child from one period to the next is 
very gradual. Consequently the method of teaching must be' 
changed very gradually. Little by little the object and object- 
ive methods must give place to methods which address the 
conceptive or representative power more directly. Pupils are 
now prepared to use books; and the order of progress is (1) 
words, (2) ideas, and (3) expression, while in the first period the 
order was (1) objects, (2) ideas, and (3) words. 

The order in reading. — The order is illustrated by the les- 
sons in reading after children begin the use of the second 
reader. The printed words, as the pupils look upon the page, 
cause the production in the mind of images, pictures, ideas, 
representations of the objects, acts, persons, and so forth, of 
which the words are signs or symbols. These mental ideas, 
images, and pictures are expressed or described in the vocal 
reading by the tones, inflections, and emphasis employed by 
the readers. The character of the reading will show whether 
the representations in the mind are correct and distinct. A 
book cannot be used with advantage until such representations 
can be readily and accurately formed. 

Order in language lessons. — This order is also observed in 
language lessons when the teacher reads or relates some story 
and requires the members of a class to reproduce the substance 
of it in writing. In this case the spoken words cause the for- 
mation of the mental representations which are then expressed 
by written words. 



70 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

Different modes of expression. — The expression is not always 
by words. It may he hy acts or by signs of various kinds. 
For example, the teacher says to a child, "Please bring me 
your reading book;" the child does as requested. The act is an 
expression of the ideas produced in the mind by the teacher's 
words, and could not have been performed correctly if the rep- 
resentations had not been correctly formed. 

In arithmetic. — An example in arithmetic is read; a pupil 
goes to the blackboard and places upon it a number of figures 
and other characters. This work is an expression of the ideas 
caused by the reading, and the work will indicate what sort of 
ideas were formed. 

Representation begins early. — This process of menial repre- 
sentation begins at a very early period of the child's develop- 
ment, and the power to form C(>rrect and clear ideas, when words 
or other signs are used, should be cultivated as carefully and 
diligently as the perceptive powers when objects are employed. 
It is possible to use the object and objective methods of 
instruction too long. The child in that case becomes accus- 
tomed to depend too much upon perception for his mental 
notions. The power to form mental pictures from words is 
not called into activity, and consequently is not developed. 
The result is that memory, conception, and imagination are 
retarded in their growth, and sometimes permanent injury is 
inflicted upon the mind. 



II. 

a. The young child proceeds 
in its learning, for the most 
part, inductively; that is, from 
individuals to classes, and 



II. 

a. The teacher of young 
children should proceed, for 
the most part, inductively; 
that is from individuals to 



A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 



71 



from particular cases and ex- 
amples to general truths and 
principles. 

b. In later periods the 
learner proceeds, in many- 
cases, deductively; that is, 
from classes to individuals, 
and from general truths and 
principles to particular cases 
and examples. 



classes, and from particular 
cases and examples to general 
truths and principles. 

h. The teacher of advanced 
classes should, in many cases, 
proceed deductively; that is, 
from classes to individuals, 
and from general truths and 
principles to particular cases 
and examples. 



For the purpose of emphasizing certain points of special 
importance a third law is added, although it is virtually in- 
cluded in the second, and will be discussed in connection with 
that law. 



III. 

a. The child naturally seeks 
to learn facts, events, proc- 
esses, examples and so on, 
before he is interested in study- 
ing causes, reasons, conse- 
quences, rules, definitions and 
principles; and he learns 
language before the laws of 
language, that is, before gram- 
mar. 

b. After the thinking and 
reasoning powers have become 
considerably developed, the 
student naturally seeks to 
commence the study of many 
subjects with statements of 
rules, definitions, principles, 



III. 

a. The teacher should pre- 
sent facts, events, processes, 
examples, and so on, to chil- 
dren before requiring them to 
study causes, reasons, conse- 
quences, rules, definitions, and 
principles; and should teach 
languages before the laws of 
language, that is, before 
grammar. 

b. In giving instruction to 
advanced scholars the teacher 
may often begin with state- 
ments of rules, definitions, 
principles, and hypotheses, and 
then proceed to investigate, 
explain, and illustrate the 



72 A pkimp:e of pedagogy. 



and hypotheses, and then goes 
on to investigate and discover 
the application of these. He 
also commences the study of 
new languages by applying, as 
far as possible, the laws and 
principles of languages already 
learned, that is, with gram- 
mar. 



various applications of these, 
and the inferences and deduc- 
tions from them. He should 
also cominence instruction in 
new languages by applying as 
far as possible, the laws and 
principles of languages which 
the student knows, that is, 
with grammar. 



Applications of the second and third laws. — The applica- 
tions of the second and third laws to methods of teaching 
particular subjects will be readily understood by almost any- 
one, and they will not, therefore, require very extended illus- 
trations. The young child, at first, knows only individuals, 
and can have no conception of classes. It is true he uses gen- 
eral terms, such as boy, man, dog, horse, but he employs 
these, for considerable time, only as names of individuals. 
Very gradually, but probably somewhat earlier than we have 
been accustomed to suppose, the child begins to form con- 
fused notions of classes of things, such as are indicated by 
common nouns, like fruit, flower, animal and tree He then 
commences to make generalizations, often very crude, and 
sometimes amusing. 

First ideas of classes of objects. — The child's earliest ideas 
of classes of objects are probably obtained by a process of 
elimination; that is, by putting aside or out of view, one by 
one, characteristics which belong to single individuals, and 
by retaining and combining the characteristics wliich are 
discovered to be common to a large numb.-r of individuals. 
If this be true, it indicates the method which the teacher 
should adopt in the school. For example, suppose a child 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 73 

sees an apple for the first time, and that this particular apple 
is red. The word apple now means to the child only this one 
red apple. Suppose to-morrow a yellow apple is brought to 
the child, and afterwards a green apple, and then others of 
variegated colors. Gradually the notion of any particular color 
is eliminated from the idea expressed by the general term apple. 
By a similar process the notion of any particular size, or of 
any specific taste, will be removed, and only a few character- 
istics will remain included in the idea or general notion of an 
apple. 

Induction. — Induction is the process hy which we reach 
general truths, laws; and rules by examining a considerable 
number of individual things, cases, or examples. The mind 
naturally follows this method, and the teacher should adopt 
it in leading children to discover and formulate rules in 
arithmetic, grammar, and other common studies. A rule in 
arithmetic is usually nothing more than a concise description 
of a process; in grammar a rule is usually merely a brief state- 
ment of a general truth in respect to the arrangement or form 
of words. 

Examples of induction. — The process by which a child 
reaches a general truth may be easily illustrated by reference 
to some of the things with which children are supposed to be 
well acquainted. 

Aek a child how many petals an apple blossom has; he will 
examine a few blossoms, plucked from half a dozen different 
trees, and answer without hesitation, five. Inquire how 
many seed cells the apple has, and he will arrive at his con- 
clusion by the same method. In all such cases children 
reason correctly, although the process is probably almost 
10 



74 A PEIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

unconscious. In the school they will frequently need to be 
guarded against the danger of drawing conclusions too hastily 
and from an examination of an insufficient number of indi- 
viduals. 

In arithmetic. — In elementary work in arithmetic the 
teacher should require a pupil to ' 'do" a considerable number 
of similar problems, to examine with great care the process in 
each case, and then to formulate a rule for all problems of the 
same kind. 

Essentially the same method should be employed in more 
advanced classes in mathematics, and in all other studies, 
until the most important general truths and rules have been 
mastered. 

Processes before reasons. — Children, from the very nature 
of their minds, will learn to do many things in certain 
branches of study and will find great pleasure in doing them, 
long before they can fully and clearly understand the reasons 
for the processes which they employ. They can discover a 
rule, and can work by the rule, while unable to comprehend 
the principle upon which the rule depends. At this stage of 
their development and progress it is unwise to attempt to 
teach them to repeat in a parrot-like way explanations and 
principles which have no meaning to them. Require reasons 
so far and only so far as they are capable of giving them 
understandingly. 

Deduction. — When general principles have been learned 
by induction, and definitions and rules have been mastered, 
the method of teaching, in many cases, will naturally be 
changed. The principle, the definition, or the rule, becomes 
the starting point. The method is now deductive. Deduction 



A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 75 

is the process of applying general principles, definitions and 
rules to particular cases and individual examples. 

Illustrations. — For illustration, as soon as a pupil has thor- 
oughly learned the rules of addition, subtraction, multiplica- 
tion, and division, he has only to apply these to the solution of 
any new problem which is given to him. The inductive proc- 
esses are no louger necessary. The same is true in the study 
of language, and indeed in all studies. 

The deductive method is especially employed in all branches 
where the work is largely classification, as in botany and 
zoology. The characteristics of great families or classes are 
first learned, and these characteristics are then used in deter- 
mining what individual plants, flowers, or animals are, and 
where they belong in the vegetable or animal kingdom. 

Both methods employed constantly. — While elementary 
methods are mostly inductive, and advanced methods are 
largely deductive, yet both induction and deduction are con- 
stantly used in every grade of a school and in almost every 
class and study. Frequently both are employed in the same 
lesson. Induction being first used to reach some general law 
or rule, and then deduction in applying this law or rule to 
special cases and examples. 

Language before grammar. — The third special law re- 
quires language to be taught before grammar. Under one of 
the general laws some suggestions were made for teaching 
language lessons. A few suggestions will be added here in 
respect to the very earliest instruction in language to the 
youngest children. Next to the training of the senses the most 
important ivork of the primary teacher is the training of her 
pupils to use language correctly and readily. Children learn 



76 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

their first lessons in language by imitation. They repeat what 
they hear. Forms of speech, acquired before entering school, 
cling to them through all after life. If these forms are correct 
the teacher's task is comparatively easy; if they are bad her 
work is much more difficult. 

Suggestions.— (1) First of all', the teacher's language should 
he good, grammatically correct, and worthy of imitation. 
This is of vital importance. The teacher's conversations with 
the children, her remarks to classes and to the school, are so 
many continuous lessons in language; they are more effective 
than all other lessons. 

(2) Next to this in importance is the correction of any had 
hahits of speech which the children may have already acquired. 

This should be done in such a way as not to wound their sen- 
sibilities, or to give the impression that the teacher takes 
pleasure in criticising them. 

(3) In recitations and in all formal school exercises he sure 
that a child has clear and distinct ideas hefore he tries to ex- 
press them. The expression of an idea or thought can never, 
unless by some mere chance, be clearer or more distinct than 
the idea or thought as represented in the mind. Confusion of 
language necessarily follows confusion of thought. An ob- 
ject seen indistinctly can be described only vaguely. A child 
should not be allowed to describe an object of perception 
until he has observed it so fully and carefully that he knows 
exactly what he wishes and intends to say. The same re- 
quirement should be made when questions are put which call 
for the mental act of representation. This requirement will 
interfere a little at first with the liveliness of a recitation or 
other exercises, but in the end progress will be more rapid. 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 77 

Imperfect representation and its causes. — During the early- 
period of the representative stage of a child's school life there 
is great danger of confusion of ideas in his mind, and of con- 
sequent incorrectness in the use of words. A story is told, or 
a narrative is read, and the pupil is required to reproduce the 
story or the narrative in his own language. Failure in the 
reproduction may result from the fact that the language used 
in telling the story is not understood by the child. In this case 
the pupil can form no mental pictures, because the words sug- 
gest nothing. Consequently he has nothing to reproduce. 

Failure to reproduce may have another cause. The pupil 
may understand the language employed and may form cor- 
rect ideas, but his vocabulary, aside from the words used by 
the teacher in telling the story, may be so limited that he is 
unable to express these ideas correctly in other words of his 
own selection. 

(4) Consequently at this stage of school life a teacher should 
take great care that right words he taught to children as they 
are needed by them. Every new object or idea calls for a new 
word. The word will be easily remembered if it is taught in 
connection with that of which it is the sign; the natural order 
is ''things and words." 

Words to be taught. — The words taught to young children 
should be short, plain, every-day words, readily understood 
and easy of utterance. Train scholars to use just enough words 
to express their ideas clearly and fully, but no more than are 
needed to do this. In this matter the teacher should afford an 
example worthy of imitation. Do not fall into the habit of 
"talking much and saying little." 

Technical terms. — The general rule as to the selection of 
short, simple, every-day words for the use of children, should 



78 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

not be pressed to an unreasonable extreme. It is not neces- 
sary, nor is it desirable, to avoid the use of all technical terms 
in early instruction. Such terms should not be employed un- 
necessarily, or too freely, but there is no sufficient reason for 
excluding them entirely. Oral and all early teaching should 
prepare pupils to use text-books. Some previous knowledge of 
language of books vrill help the pupil greatly when he com- 
mences to use them. 

(5) Finally, give young children much practice in the use of 
correct forms of expression. 

The end to be reached. — The end desired is the formation 
of a habit of employiog good language. Habit is formed only 
by long-continued practice. Sentences properly arranged must 
be spoken over and over again, must be written repeatedly, 
until the sounds and forms become so familiar that the tongue 
utters them and the fingers write them almost automatically. 
Training in this matter should begin in the lowest classes 
and should be continued systematically through all the primary 
grades. 

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER V. 

1. Each period of development has its own peculiar forms of 
mental activity. 

2. Subordinate or special laws of mind and of teaching. 

3. First special law of mind and tjorresponding law of 
teaching. 

4. Some maxims applicable to the early period of school life. 

5. One leading purpose at this time. 

6. What object teaching is, and what objective teaching is. 

7. Use of object lessons. 



A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 79 

8. Bad object lessons. • 

9. How children should be taught to observe. 

10. Effect of good object teaching. 

11. Some questions as to observing. 

12. Examples of concrete lessons in arithmetic. 

13. Concrete spelling lessons. 

14. To what stage of learning the second part of the first law 
applies. 

15. Order of progress in each stage. 

16. Illustration from work in reading. 

17. Order in language lessons. 

18. Different modes of expression. 

19. When representation commences. 

20. Second special law of mind, and of teaching. 

21. Third special law of mind, and of teaching. 

22. Applications of these laws. 

23. How a child probably forms his earliest ideas of classes 
of objects. 

24. Induction defined, and examples. 

25. Induction in arithmetic. 

26. Processes before reasons, etc. 

27. Deduction defined and illustrated. 

28. Both methods constantly employed. 

29. Language before grammar. Importance of training in 
language. 

30. Suggestions for elementary training in language. 

31. Causes of imperfect representation on the part of young 
children, and of imperfect reproduction. 

32. Kind of words to be taught. Technical terms. 



80 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

CHAPTERVI. 

SUGGESTIVE APPLICATIONS OF LAWS OP MIND. 

Previous applications of laws." — In previous chapters appli- 
cations of some laws of mind to the teaching of several 
elementary studies were indicated as fully as space would 
permit. These examples were designed to suggest how 
teachers may make applications of these laws for themselves. 
It is better for teachers to do this than to imitate and follow 
altogether models given by others. No one can become em- 
inently successful in teaching unless she does something more 
than merely strive to imitate another teacher. Every per- 
son has, or should have, some individuality. The highest 
success will he obtained by first mastering principles and laws 
and then applying these according to one's own individual 
peculiarities, habits of thought, and modes of action. One 
never acquires freedom of movement or a graceful gait by 
trying to walk exactly in the footsteps of another, however easy 
and graceful the movement and gait of that other may be. 
Seek to improve and make the most of yourself, but do not 
make an effort to become somebody else. Success is not in 
that direction. 

Other applications. — For the benefit of inexperienced teachers 
a few additional applications of laws of mind and teaching 
are given here, simply to indicate the general character of such 
applications, and some things which must be considered in 
making them. 

First thing. — First of all, before commencing to teach any 
subject, determine exactly what you propose to do, the end 



A PKIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 81 

which you expect to reach, and fix in your oivn mind clearly 
and in regular order the successive steps by ivhich that end is 
to be reached. Unless this is done you will work at random , 
wasting your own time and also that of your pupils. In 
determining what is to be done, or what should be attempted, 
the age and degree of development and intelligence of scholars 
must be taken into account. The maxim, "from the known 
to the unknown," should be kept in mind, because the present 
knowledge of the child roust be the starting point in the effort 
to lead him to acquire that which is now the unknown. 

Second thing. — ^Having done this, next state to yourself 
distinctly the laws of mind and of teaching which are to guide 
you in the ivork, and are to determine the particular methods 
to be employed. 

The general laws will always be applicable, and are to be 
kept in mind in all cases. Some whole is to be presented, 
although it may be only a small part of some greater whole. 
The processes of thinking, by which knowledge is rendered 
clear and definite, must be regarded and provided for; and 
the laws of association must be constantly employed so as to 
render retention and reproduction sure and easy. 

Special laws to be determined. — What needs to be deter- 
mined, therefore, is, what special or subordinate laws of mind 
and of teaching apply to the matter in hand. In order to 
determine this, it is necessary to consider the age and degree 
of intelligence of pupils; whether they are in the primary or 
in a more advanced stage of development; whether they have 
or have not some knowledge of subject to be presented. 

An illustration. — For an illustration let us apply these sug- 
gestions to the teaching of 
11 



82 A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

The end or purpose. —Suppose the pupils to belong to a 
district school or to some of the intermediate grades of a 
larger school. What is the end or object to be attained ? Let 
us agree that the purpose is this: To enable the scholars to 
obtain a good degree of what may be called practical knowl- 
edge of our local, state, and national governments. It is not 
the intention to teach, except incidentally and to a very limited 
extent, theories of governnment, or the principles upon which 
the various forms of government are founded. 

The laws. — What laws of mind and of teaching will guide 
us in the work ? and when shall we commence ? The most im- 
portant of the laws are these: In teaching young pupils, be- 
gin with the concrete; begin with particular and specific cases; 
begin with the known, that is, ivith that ivhich is near at 
hand; begin with that which will most naturally create 
interest and secure attention; proceed, as far as possible, in- 
ductively. If these laws are regarded it will be easy to decide 
where and how to commence. 

In district schools. — Suppose one is teaching in a district 
school, and that a school meeting has just been held, or is to 
be held soon, in which officers of the district are elected and 
other business is transacted. In this case begin instruction 
with the school district. We have here a concrete, specific 
example near at hand, and adapted, if properly presented, to 
excite interest and secure attention. Incidentally the nature 
of democratic government, a government in which all the 
people take part, can be shown; and also the nature of repre- 
sentative government, since the school board act for and in 
behalf of the people, and thus represent them. Instruction is 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 83 

supposed to be oral. Do not hasten; take points one by one; 
state questions clearly, and allow pupils to find out things for 
themselves, as far as possible, by inquiring of their parents 
and other persons. In this way the organization of the dis- 
trict, its officers, the time and mode of their election, their 
duties as individuals and as a board can be taught so that the 
knowledge will be of practical value to the pupils and will be 
easily retained. 

In village or city. — If one is teaching in a village or in a 
city it will be natural to commence with the organization and 
government of the village or city, following the method indi- 
cated for the study of the district. 

The township, county, etc. — The transition from the district 
to the township can be readily made by inquiring about the 
boundaries of the district, and by whom these boundaries are 
fixed. These inquiries bring us to the township board of school 
inspectors and to the township organization. 

The officers of the township and their duties may be studied 
in the manner suggested for the study of the district. Addi- 
tional interest will be excited if the township is studied near 
the time of the election of officers. 

From the township the passage will be easy to the county, 
and then to the state, and finally to the United States. 

If the government of the state is studied near the time of a 
state election it will be easy to give information in relation to 
the caucus, to the county and state conventions, and the busi- 
ness and management of these meetings. 

Law making, etc. — It will be an excellent time to study 
the Legislature when that body is in session. The whole 



84: A PEIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 

process of law making can then be illustrated by reference to 
the proceedings of the Legislature. The progress of some bill, 
in which pupils may be interested, can be traced from its first 
introduction to its final passage, every step being carefully 
indicated from day to day. 

United States government. — The approach of a presiden- 
tial election affords a most favorable opportunity for studying 
the government of the United States, since the election of 
members of Congress takes place at the same time. The 
election of United States senators should be studied, if possible, 
in connection with a meeting of the State Legislature when 
the election of a senator takes place. This method makes the 
instruction as nearly concrete as it can be made unless pupils 
are able to be present at district, township, and other similar 
meetings. 

Method with advanced classes. — With classes of advanced 
pupils it will sometimes be wise to employ a different method, 
based upon such laws as these: commence ivith the largest 
possible wJiole, and go from the whole to its parts; begin with 
the abstract, with general principles, ivith definitions; ivith 
advanced pupils employ deduction. In this case, present first 
a general outline and then study its various parts, going into 
details as fully as circumstances permit. Begin with a 
definition of government with all necessary illustrations; next 
define the various kinds of government, such as civil, military, 
monarchical, republican, representative, national, state, school, 
family. Then, taking the government of the United States, 
proceed to study one by one the different departments. From 
the national come to the state government, following the 
same general plan; finally proceed to the count}' and the 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 85 

township. Where text-books are used this method will usually 
be employed. It will, however, be profitable to use the con- 
crete method, to some extent, even in the most advanced 
grades. 

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

It may be of advantage to suggest briefly what some of the 
laws of mind and of teaching i ndicate as to instruction in the 
subject of United States history to 'pupils in district schools, 
and in the lower grades of larger schools. The work is neces- 
sarily elementary in its character, and methods adapted to 
advanced classes are not appropriate here. Introductory out- 
lines and synopses are out of place. The whole of children , 
at this period., is a fc<ingle event or a short series of closely 
related events; the adventures of one man, or of a single body 
of men. 

In the end, by a natural process of induction and arrange- 
ment, many events may be grouped together and the relation 
of these events to each other may be discovered. 

Object to be attained. — The object may be stated thus: To 
enable pupils to gain and retain a knowledge of the most im- 
portant events in the history of the country. This will neces- 
sarily include a knowledge of the leading men who have 
acted in those events; a knowledge of discoveries and inven- 
tions in the arts and sciences; of improvements in means of 
travel and transportation, and of the general progress of the 
country in all directions. It will not include the details of all 
the early voyages of discovery, nor all the incidents of the 
French and Indian wars, nor all the marches and counter- 
marches of armies in any of our wars. The unimportant and 
unessential must be omitted. 



86 A PEIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

Laws applicable. — Most of the laws named as applicable in 
teaching civil government will applj'' equally well in teaching 
the history. The concrete will be of a different sort, and morf» 
emphasis must be put upon the law that young children seek 
to learn facts, events, processes', and so on, before they care 
to study causes, reasons, relations, and consequences. 

First lessons in history. — The first lessons in history should 
be taught in connection with the elementary study of local 
geography. When a place is studied, anecdotes of men and 
events connected with the place should be related in a brief, 
animated and interesting way, by the teacher or by some 
l^upil. Topics of various kinds may be assigned beforehand to 
individual members of a class, and references may be given to 
books in which matter can be found. Progress in geography 
may seem to be less rapid, but real progress in knowledge will 
be much more rapid, and that which is learned will be re- 
tained by the natural law of association, that is, by the law of 
contiguity; places, events, and persons being all linked together 
in the mind. Men and events connected with many places are 
so numerous that selections must be made according to cir- 
cumstances, or according to the taste of the teacher. The 
story of Wolfe and Montcalm may be associated with Quebec; 
of John Smith and Pocahontas with the James river; of De 
Soto with the lower Mississippi; of Pere Marquette with the 
Great Lakes; of the Conspiracy of Pontiac with Detroit. The 
only difficulty will be in making wise selections from the 
abundance of material. 

More formal lessons. — The next and more formal lessons 
in history for children should consist, very largely, of anec- 
dotes, of short stories of events and places, and of brief 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 8T 

biographies of distinguished men. These must not be taken 
at random, but in some regular and chronological order, so 
they may finally be connected into a continuous series. This 
order need not necessarily be stated to the pupils at the 
outset, but should be very clear in the teacher's mind. The 
method of working with a class must be adapted to circum- 
stances. If books are abundant, the members of a class may 
be required to read for themselves and to relate, either orally 
or in writing, the substance of what they have read. The 
teacher will then indicate the important portions of the stories 
which are to be fastened in the memory. If books are scarce, 
the teacher will read or relate the story, or appoint some good 
reader among the pupils to read, while the other members of 
the class listen and afterwards write out as much of the matter 
as they can recall, being guided by the teacher so that they 
will reproduce the essential parts. If a text-book is used, this 
work can be carried along in connection with lessons assigned 
from the book. This leads to a remark which may be next 
akin to educational treason: with a live and thoroughly pre- 
pared teacher the more different good text-books in the history 
class the better for the class. 

The lessons, of course, are assigned topically, and each pupil 
learns and states what his book contains upon a topic. In this 
way the whole class can have the substance of what all the 
books contain. When any topic has been fully studied the 
teacher should make a summary of the important points which 
pupils can copy in note books. At the end of the term of study 
these note books will furnish the connected substance of the 
history, and will serve as means for review. 

Advanced teaching. — As in teaching civil government so in 



88 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

teaching history; the laws of mind indicate that the class may 
commence by learning a general outline. This outline serves 
in the history the purpose which the outline map serves in 
geography. This method is so familiar that it is unnecessary 
to describe it further. 

These examples are sufficient to illustrate the applications 
which teachers may make for themselves of both the general 
and special laws of mind and teaching. 

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER VI. 

1. Previous applications of laws of mind, 

3. How the highest success will be attained by a teacher. 

3. First thing to be determined before commencing any 
subject. 

4. Second thing to be distinctly stated. 

5. What as to general laws. 

6. What as to special laws. 

7. The illustration of civil government. 

8. The end or purpose in this case. 

9. The guiding laws or principles. 

10. How begin and proceed in a district school. 

11. How begin in a village or city. 

12. How interest may be increased. 

13. When law-making may be best studied. 

14. When the government of the United States may be best 

studied. 

15. Method with advanced classes. 

16. Laws applied to teaching United States history. 

17. Object to be obtained with elementary classes. 

18. Law specially applicable. 

19. First lessons in history. 

20. More formal lessons. 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 89 



21. Method of working in a class. 

22. As to text-books. 

23. Method with advanced classes. 

24. Use of these illustrations. 



CHAPTER VII. 

MORAL DEVELOPMENT, INSTRUCTION AND TRAINING. 

The moral nature. — For our purpose it will be sufSciently 
definite to consider the moral nature as that in man which 
concerns itself about questions of right and wrong. It makes 
such inquiries as these: Ought a child to obey his parents? 
ought parents to care for, to protect, to educate their children ? 
ought scholars to be obedient to the rules of a school ? ought 
a teacher to labor earnestly for the highest good of his pupils ? 
ought a man to be honest in business ? is it ever right to lie, to 
cheat, to take advantage of another man's ignorance in a trade ? 
These and many other similar questions men are constantly 
asking themselves. Children begin to ask such questions at a 
very early period in their lives. 

Idea of right. — The fact that such inquiries are made by 
all sorts of people in all parts of the world, seems to prove 
that human beings everywhere have an idea that there is such 
a thing as right and such a thing as wrong. This idea is 
probably intuitive in the soul; that is, it springs up sponta- 
neously in the mind as soon as a child is old enough to think 
with some degree of clearness, to act with reference to some 
end, to observe the conduct of others, and to understand, in 

some measure, the consequences of his own conduct and of 
12 



90 A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

the conduct of those about him. The child's earliest notions of 
right and wrong are, without doubt, very crude and ill-defined. 
Gradually, if properly instructed and trained, he conies to 
have more definite ideas, and begins to feel that he ought to do 
one thing in preference to another, and that he may properly 
be blamed for one sort of conduct and praised for a different 
sort. In other words he begins to comprehend the fact that 
there is some rule or law concerning behavior, and that his 
conduct should conform to this law. 

Moral law. — At this stage of development the child has a 
dim and confused notion of what we call moral law; which, 
for our present purpose, may be defined as a collection of prin- 
ciples and rules for the regulation of the conduct of human 
beings in all the various relations of life. The most impor- 
tant and essential of these principles are very nearly, if not 
quite, axioms or self evident truths. Men everywhere admit 
them to be true, even though they disregard them in their 
manner of living. 

First principle. — One of these principles may be stated 
thus: Give to every man his due, or render to every man his 
right. This requires us to give to every human being that 
which belongs to him; honor to whom honor is due; obedi- 
ence to whom obedience is due: respect to whom respect is 
due; courtesy, kindness, protection, good-will, love, to whom 
these are due. This law touches all the ordinary relations in 
the family, in the school, in society, in business, in the state. 
It is broad enough to regulate to a large extent the conduct of 
children, of parents, of scholars, of teachers, and of men and 
women in all social, business, and other relations. This law 
asks only justice; it is the basis of human society. Without 



A PEIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 91 

some tolerable regard for it men could not associate together. 
Nobody will object to teaching this principle in the public 
schools, or in any other place. 

Second principle. — Another of these laws may be em- 
bodied in this language: " Do unto others as you ivould have 
them do unto you " in like conditions and circumstances. In 
other words, put yourself in another's place and consider how 
you would wish to be treated in that place. This rule carries 
one far beyond the requirements of simple justice. It bids 
us do good to all men as far as we are able; to forgive those 
who have wronged us; to have compassion on the suffering; 
to pity the weak and erring; to help those who need help 
even though they have no claims upon us; in a word, to do 
all in our power to make others better and to render them 
happier. 

Law of beneficence. — This is the law of beneficence and 
good-will, applied once by a Samaritan to an unfortunate 
individual belonging to a race which despised and hated him. 
Fully recognized, it forbids us to render evil for evil; to return 
a harsh word for one which we have received; "to give" a 
bad man or boy " as good as he has sent," or " pay him back 
in his own coin." This does not forbid the using of proper 
measures in self defense, nor the infliction of proper chas- 
tisement upon any overbearing "bully" who recognizes no 
authority unless it is backed by brute force, and respects only 
what he fears. 

How much embraced. — These two principles embrace the 
whole moral law so far as it applies to human relations. 
They teach justice, benevolence, mercy, and forgiveness. 
Obedience to them would make the family, the school, society 



92 A PEIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 

general!}^ and the state what they should be; would render 
men honest, truthful, upright, honorable, and manly in the 
highest sense of that word. 

Purpose of moral instruction and training. — The purpose 
of moral instruction and training is to lead children to act 
constantly and uniformly in harmony with these laws. They 
will thus be made obedient to rightful authority in the home, 
in the school, and in the state. They will be taught truthful- 
ness in word and in deed, honesty in business and in pleasure, 
purity in heart and in life, integrity in both private and public 
affairs. The natural tendency of such instruction and train- 
ing must be to send out from the schools good men and 
women, and to secure for the state good and reliable citizens. 

What the child must have. — In order to secure the proposed 
end the child must have (1) the necessary knowledge; that is, he 
must be taught what he ought to do and how he ought to con- 
duct himself; (2) he must have a right disposition: that is, 
in some way, there must be produced in his mind the desire to 
do what he ought to do and to conduct himself in the right 
way. In connection with the production of this knowledge 
and this disposition in the child (3) he needs to acquire, by con- 
tinued practice, a permanent habit of right doing, so that good 
conduct shall become easy because it has become habitual. 
Practically the knowledge, the disposition, and the habit will 
be secured for the child at the same time and by the same 
process of instruction and training. 

How give instruction. — The necessary instruction as to 
right conduct can be given very easily by any teacher who 
thoroughly understands the principles of justice, beneficence, 
and mercy, and who earnestly desires to impress these upon 



A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 93 

the minds of his pupils. It must be remembered, in dealing 
with young children, that they are not yet able to comprehend 
abstract principles or abstract teaching. It would serve no 
good purpose to begin by telling them that they ought to be 
just and to act justly; or that they should be beneficent and 
act beneficently; or that they should be merciful, and should 
deal mercifully with their associates. Such instruction may 
be appropriate in the high school, but not in the lower grades. 
The teaching here must be concrete. Justice and beneficence 
must be embodied and taught by means of living examples. 
Mercy and forgiveness must be presented in actual everj-'-day 
life where they can be seen. 

First means. — Consequently, (1) first and most important 
of all, the teacher must teach the principles of right conduct 
by example, by his own daily living before his pupils. He 
must be a concrete illustration of justice and mercy, of benefi- 
cence and forgiveness. He must himself be just in word and 
deed in all his relations with school officers, with parents, 
and with scholars. He will teach beneficence most effectively 
by his own beneficent acts and his own kind words. He will 
teach purity best by being pure in heart, pure in life and pure 
in language. He will teach honor by being honorable in all 
his dealings, and patience and forbearance by being patient 
and forbearing under circumstances naturally adapted to irri- 
tate and provoke. 

Unconscious tuition. — This is unconscious tuition, which 
has been so beautifully described and illustrated by Dr.. Hunt- 
ington in an address which every teacher should read at least 
once a year. No other teaching can take the place of this, 
and no person is " qualified," in the best and highest sense of 



94 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

the word, for a place in the schoolroom, whose character and 
life do not teach the principles of justice and righteousness. 
Neither intellectual power nor brilliant scholarship can atone 
for bad moral principles and bad moral conduct and habits. 

Second means. — (2) Next to the teacher's own character, 
the best means of impressing moral lessons upon children are 
examples found in the conduct of associates and of others 
with whom pupils are personally acquainted. This is also 
concrete teaching. Such examples must be selected and 
employed with great care and skill, and in such a way as not 
to give offense or to excite ill-will. It will, when this can 
he done, be better to use an example ivhich can be held up as 
worthy of imitation rather then one worthy of censure and 
blame. This is preferable for many reasons which will readily 
occur to any teacher, but there is a psychological reason which 
is often overlooked. States of mind repeat themselves. A feel- 
ing excited in the child's mind today can be excited more 
easily tomorrow, and still more easily the third time. Every 
repetition increases the tendency of the mind to indulge the 
feeling until, by and by, it becomes habitual. It is, conse- 
quently, better for the child's character to excite feelings of 
kindness and good-will rather than those of unkindness and 
ill-will. It may be urged that it will be a good thing to culti- 
vate in a child the feeling of indignation against injustice and 
all wrong-doing. This is true after the child has reached a 
certain stage of development; but it should be remembered 
that feeling in the young child is always directed towards the 
actor rather than the act, towards individuals rather than 
classes. 

Third means. — (3) Further opportunities for giving moral 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 95 

instruction can be found in connection with examples and 
illustrations afforded by some of the selections in school read- 
ers, by anecdotes and other articles in newspapers and period- 
icals, and by many of the lessons in history. 

With advanced pupils. — (4) To advanced students more 
definite and formal statements of moral principles should be 
made, with applications of these to the conduct of every- 
day life. Care must be taken that such statements are pre- 
sented at proper times and under favorable conditions, and 
not in the form gf regular lessons or lectures at appointed 
hours. 

The most difficult work. — The most difficult part of the 
teacher's work is to create or cause to he produced in the child's 
mind a disposition to do right, when he has learned what the 
right is, and to render this disposition permanent so that 
finally good conduct will become habitual. This is the end 
towards which effort should be directed. 

Upon what disposition depends. — The disposition depends 
upon the feelings which control the action of the will. Behind 
every determination of the will is some desire. The child is 
disposed to do what he wishes or desires to do. The problem, 
therefore, is to produce the right desire; or if, as is often the 
case, there are opposing and conflicting desires, to give pre- 
dominance to the better ones. Anything which produces or 
tends to produce desire, and thus to move the will, may be 
called a motive. The practical questions for a teacher are, 
what motives shall I use, and how shall I use them to the 
best advantage? Only brief consideration can be given to 
these questions here, but every teacher should study them 
thoroughly. 



96 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

Desire and good. — Desire has been defined as the craving of 
the mind for some real or supposed good. The term good is 
used to denote anything which will give gratification, pleas- 
ure, enjoyment or satisfaction of some kind. The good of 
one person may not be the good of another; the good of 
the child will not be the good of the man. The good to he 
presented, that is, the motive, must be adapted to the age of 
the person, to his degree of development and culture, and to 
circumstances. The good held up before a young child must 
be something near at hand, something which appeals to the 
senses, and to the simple emotions and affections, something 
which he can comprehend and appreciate. The far-off has 
little power to influence childhood. 

High and low motives. — The motive in each case may be 
considered low or high according to the character of the 
pleasure and satisfaction which the object presented is adapted 
to afford. The pleasure may be of the body or of the soul, 
may be immediate or prospective, may be temporary or last- 
ing in its nature, may relate entirely to one's self or may con- 
cern others. The effort shoidd he, in all cases, to employ the 
highest possible motive; that is. the motive which will excite 
the best, noblest, and purest desires. As early as possible 
motives should be employed which will lead the child to have 
regard for others rather than for himself. 

Classes of motives.— Motives may be divided, for con- 
venience, into a few classes; and in each class they may be 
arranged in an ascending series adapted to the progressive 
stages and steps of mental and moral development. 

Lowest class. — (1) The first and lowest motive which in- 
fluences the child is probably the pleasure arising from the 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 97 

gratification of the natural appetites. The parent makes 
more or less use of this motive, but it can have little place in 
school. In more advanced periods of life this motive is re- 
inforced by the pleasure derived from the gratification of the 
passions and artificial appetites. This motive keeps man on a 
level with the brutes. 

Approval, etc.— (2) The satisfaction resulting from being 
approved, praised, esteemed, and commended is a powerful 
motive in childhood, and indeed during the whole life. The 
child values the approval of parents, teachers, associates, etc. 
When more developed, he values most of all the approval of 
his own conscience and of the Divine Being. 

Activity, etc. — (3) The pleasure and satisfaction derived 
from the proper exercise of one's own powers constitute a very 
strong motive in every period of life. Appropriate exercise 
of body gives positive pleasure to the child. Mental exercise 
affords still higher satisfaction. Probably the highest enjoy- 
ment of which man is susceptible comes from the right 
exercise of his highest and noblest powers. 

Possession, etc. — (4) The satisfaction resulting from pos- 
session is also a powerful motive, operating sometimes in the 
direction of good, sometimes in the direction of evil. This 
general motive embraces a great number of particular cases, 
such as the possession of knowledge, of property, of power, 
of rank, of esteem, and many others. Prizes and rewards 
appeal to this principle. 

Select motives, — From these various classes such motives 

should be selected in the school as are adapted to the different 

pupils. Always select the highest one which can be made 

effective. 

13 



98 A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

Lowest motive. — The lowest motive to which the teacher 
can appeal is the desire for present personal bodily gratifica- 
tion and pleasures. Corporal punishment appeals to this 
motive by exciting fear of pain. 

Highest motive. — The highest motive is the desire to do 
right because it is right. This is duty in the best sense of the 
word. This involves the desire for the approval of one's own 
conscience and the approval of God. 

Character. — The final result of moral development, instruc- 
tion, and training in the school should be the production of the 
highest type of character in the pupils, character being the 
sum of the dispositions which have been created in the mind, 
and of the habits which manifest themselves in conduct. 

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER YII. 

1. The moral nature defined. 

2. What questions are asked ? 

3. Idea of right and wrong universal. 

4. A child's early ideas of right and wrong. 

5. What moral law is. 

6. The two general principles stated. 

7. What the principle of justice includes. 

8. What the principle of beneficence includes. 

9. The purpose of moral instruction and training. 

10. 1 he things which the child must have. 

11. How instruction may be given. 

12. Why abstract principles should not be taught to young 
children. 

13. The means which can be used in moral teaching. 

14. What the teacher should be. 

15. Unconscious tuition. 

16. What sort of examples should be used and why? 

17. What may be done for advanced students? 

18. The most difficult part of the work. 

19. Upon what disposition depends. 

20. What a motive is. 

21. Desire and good defined. 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOaY. 99 

22. High and low raotives. 

23. Rule for the selection of motives. 

24. First class of motives; second class; third class; fourth 
class. 

25. The lowest motive; the highest motive. 

26. What the final result of moral development, instruction 
and training should be. 

27. Character defined. 



CHAPTER VIIT. 

PRACTICAL STUDY OF CHILDREN. 

Importance of child study. — In chapter III the general 
order of development in the child and the mental activities 
which characterize each period of his progress were briefly 
considered. A few remarks and suggestions in relation to the 
special study of children will be added here. Every one will 
admit that it is as important that the teacher should under- 
stand thoroughly the nature of the child as it is that the 
market gardener should be acquainted with the nature of 
vegetables, or the florist with the nature of flowers, or the 
breeder of stock with the nature of cattle and horses. 

Not a new thing. — It would be a great mistake to suppose 
that the study of children is a new thing, just recently dis- 
covered or invented. Parents and others have been observing 
and studying children ever since there were children to be 
loved and cared for. The chief differences between the old 
study and the new are that the present study is more general, 
aims to be more thorough and systematic, and is carried on 
with the hope and purpose of making it of practical use in the 
family and in the school. 



100 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

General child nature. — In order not to waste time in trying 
to find out what everybody knows already, it should be kept 
in mind, at the outset, that there is what may be called a 
general or average child nature. That is, children, with a few 
abnormal exceptions, are essentially alike in many respects. 
Children generally cry when they are hurt and smile when 
they are pleased; they all have natural curiosity about some- 
thing; they are delighted with bright colors and " cunning" 
things; they like to handle objects, and are influenced by that 
which is near at hand. It will not be necessary to make 
observations or experiments to find out matters of this sort. 
Parents and teachers generally are well acquainted with these. 

Individual child nature. — But there is also what we may 
call special child nature or character. That is, every child 
has a nature or character peculiar, in some respects, to himself, 
and differing from that of all other children. 

What the teacher needs to study. — It is the special, 
peculiar, and individual child nature which teachers need to 
observe, and to study with the greatest care and patience. In 
other words, teachers should study the nature and peculiarities, 
as far as possible, of each individual child in their schools. 

Done more easily in elementary grades. — This can be done 
more easily, and is of more importance, in the elementary 
schools, than in the higher grades. The reason is obvious upon 
a moment's reflection. Young children, fresh from their 
homes and entering school for the first time, bring all their 
peculiarities with them. As a rule, they are just what they 
appear to be; they have not learned to conceal their thoughts, 
their feelings, their dispositions, or their habits. It is, there- 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 101 

fore, comparatively easy to discover their native or acquired 
peculiarities. 

Process of assimilation — After children have been in 
school several years their native or acquired peculiarities 
usually become less observable. By associating with one 
another a process of assimilation has been going on uncon- 
sciously. The influence of teachers and of the school, as a 
whole, have caused some of the most prominent individual 
traits to disappear, at least partially, and have led to the 
concealment, to some extent, of others. The pupils are more 
alike than they were in the lower grades. Consequently it 
will be more difficult to learn the real nature and character of 
each individual scholar. But, none the less, individuals should 
be carefully studied in all grades and their peculiarities taken 
into account in dealing with them. 

Study the whole child. — The whole child is to be studied; 
that is, the body as well as the mind. The reason for this is, 
that mental peculiarities and manifestations are often directly 
influenced or produced by physical peculiarities and conditions, 
and cannot be understood or explained except by reference to 
these. For example, a child may appear inattentive or stupid. 
in a class because he cannot see well or hear distinctly. He 
may be fretful or ill-tempered because he is suffering bodily 
discomfort or pain. He may seem obstinate or disobedient 
simply because he fails, from some physical defect, to under- 
stand a direction or request. 

Not kept distinct.— The observation and study of the physical 
and mental peculiarities must necessarily go on together, 
to a considerable extent, since they are so closely connected. 



102 A PRIMEE OF PEDAGOGY. 

But it will be convenient here to speak of the two separately 
as far as possible. 

Where to begin. — All effective teaching must begin with 
what the child already knows. Hence the first work of the 
teacher, when children are placed in her charge, is to ascertain 
what they know, or to take a sort of inventory of the " con- 
tents " of their minds. This inventory will indicate the start- 
ing point, and the direction which the teaching should take. 

How learn the contents of children's minds, — It will not be 
necessary to examine children, who are entering school for the 
first time, to find out the contents of their minds, or to question 
them very much. Young children can know little else than 
what they have seen and heard. Their minds can contain only 
what they have received through their senses from their 
previous surroundings. 

Study the environment. — The first thing to be done is to 
ascertain the home environment of each child as fully as 
possible. Where has the child lived? in the city or in the 
country ? in the village or on a farm ? Have the surroundings 
been agreeable or disagreeable ? What of the home ? and the 
members of the family ? and the immediate neighborhood ? 
All these and many other questions will suggest themselves 
during the study of environment. And the answers to them 
will give all needed information as to the contents of a child's 
mind, and the general character of his knowledge. It will be 
easy to discover where and how the work of teaching should 
begin. 

Study of heredity. — The environment of the child, of course, 
includes his parents and all other members of the household. 
But the importance of what is called heredity is so great that 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 103 

it will be especially desirable to become acquainted with the 
peculiarities of the family and the general characteristics of 
parents and other near relatives. Children do not in all cases 
closely resemble their parents either in body or mind; but 
usually the father or mother, or some more remote ancestor 
reappears, perhaps somewhat modified, in the child. If the 
child resembles the father or the mother in the color of the 
hair and eyes, in features and complexion, in general appear- 
ance and manner of walking, in tones of voice and other bodily 
peculiarities, may we not expect a likeness in mental and 
moral characteristics? in disposition, temper, tastes, and 
appetites ? 

Previous training. — In addition to a general knowledge of 
surroundings and of possible inherited characteristics, it is 
desirable to learn as much as one can by proper means, of the 
training which the child has been having in the home. Has 
he been accustomed to steady and uniform modes of manage- 
ment? Has he been controlled simply by force? or have 
appeals been made to his sense of justice and propriety ? to his 
judgment and reason ? Has he been trained to something of 
self-control and self-restraint? of courtesy, politeness, and 
regard for the interests and comfort of others ? Has his moral 
nature been properly developed and trained so that he recog- 
nizes the rights of others, and his own duty to regard these 
rights ? Is he truthful and honest according to the reasonable 
standard of childhood? These and other similar inquiries will 
come up to be gradually answered as information can be 
obtained. 

Study of children themselves.— So far our study has not been 
of the children directly, but of the conditions and influences 



104 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

which have been at work to make them what they are. Hav- 
ing ascertained something of the forces which have been mold- 
ing and fashioning them, we can judge with considerable 
accurac}^ and certainty of the probable result. We have thus 
obtained a good deal of valuable knowledge of our children, 
but it has taken some time to get it. Meanwhile the children 
have been before us, and we have been making more 
immediate and personal acquaintance with them. 

Study of the senses.— The intimate connection between the 
body and the mind has already been referred to. The senses, 
especially the senses of sight and hearing, are the means by 
which the mind comes into connection with the world of 
material things and gets all its early impressions. The first 
learning of the child is through the senses; the first teaching 
must be addressed to the senses. If the organs of the senses 
are defective the child is put at great disadvantage. The 
teacher should, therefore, at the very beginning of her work, 
seek to discover whether any of the children have defective 
ears or eyes; while the other senses are important, they are, 
comparatively, of less importance in the school room. 

The hearing. — Careful observations and experiments have 
proved that, in almost every school, some of the pupils have 
defective hearing, in one or both ears. In many cases neither 
the parents nor the children are aware of such defect. If the 
defect is serious the unfortunate child appears listless and 
inattentive, and is pronounced dull and stupid. Whenever a 
pupil seems to be thus inattentive and dull the hearing should 
be specially and immediately tested. A whole class, or the 
whole school, can be easily tested in a general way, with very 
little trouble. The simplest method is to dictate, in an ordi- 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 105 

naiy tone, figures, letters, words, or sentences to be written. 
The children being seated so that all have an equally favorable 
chance to hear. Notice those pupils who appear to make an 
extra effort to hear, or who ask to have the matter repeated in 
a louder tone. Of such make a more careful examination, 
testing each ear separately. 

Another and more thorough method of examination is by 
the use of a watch, a stop-watch if one can be readily obtained. 
Seat the pupil blindfolded and put a little soft cotton in the 
ear not being tested. Hold the watch on a level with the ear 
at a distance of about twenty-five feet and carry it slowly 
toward the ear, noticing carefully the point at which the pupil 
begins to hear the ticking. Use the same watch in testing all 
the children, since watches differ considerably in the loudness 
of their ticking. These tests only show the relative quickness 
of the hearing of different pupils, but they are usually 
sufficient for practical purposes. Children whose ears are 
found defective should be seated in positions favorable for 
hearing both the teacher and members of the class when reci- 
ting. Care also should be taken that such children do not sit 
where currents of cold air will fall upon their heads, as a cold 
in the head will usually increase the deafness. 

The seeing. — Defective eyes are more common than defec- 
tive ears, and the school is more likely to injure the eye than 
the ear. Teachers should, consequently, take especial pains to 
care for the eyes of their pupils, and should make simple tests 
whenever they have reason to suspect defects of sight. 
Teachers will not always be able to determine just what the 
defect is, but they can report to parents the existence of some 
defect which requires immediate attention. They can readily 
14 



106 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

discover myopia, or near-sightedness, by very simple tests, and 
can, to some extent, relieve pupils of the disadvantages under 
which they labor in their school work from this defect. 

Testing. — Write, in letters of ordinary size, figures, words, 
or sentences on the blackboard and ascertain whether any 
pupils find difficulty in seeing them distinctly from their desks 
or from the recitation seats, without extra effort. Near-sighted 
children should be seated in the most favorable positions for 
seeing, and should not be allowed to strain the muscles of their 
eyes in efforts to see at too great distance. Cards prepared 
especially for testing the sight can be obtained at very slight 
expense. Directions for using them will be given on the cards. 
If these can not be had conveniently the teacher can prepare 
cards for herself by writing letters of different sizes on them. 
In testing let the child move toicard the card and note the 
point w^here the letters are seen distinctly. Test both eyes 
together and afterwards each eye separately, holding some- 
thing over the eye which is not being tested. 

Various other possible defects of the eyes, among these 
astigmatism, can not be well tested by the ordinary teacher. 
Many of the "school headaches" and other nervous disorders 
are caused by these defects. Whenever there is reason to sus- 
pect defects of vision report the case at once to parents that 
examination may be made by some competent person. 

Study of mental characteristics — Temperaments. — We take 
first those mental characteristics which are apparently most 
closely related to bodily organization or conditions. Among 
these are temperaments, which may be described briefly as 
peculiar types of mental character associated usualh^ with 
certain peculiarities of bod}^, such as the shape of the head, 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 107 

the complexion, the color of the hair and eyes, and so on. 
These physical characteristics are frequently inherited and 
consequently the temperaments may be said to be inherited 
also. Most writers speak of four temperaments, but as clearly 
marked specimens of these four are not often found, it will be 
sufficient to group pupils, in respect to temperaments, into two 
classes, one of which may be called the sanguine, nervous, or 
active; the other the lymphatic, slow, or passive. Of some 
pupils it will be difficult to say to which class they belong; 
this is especially true of children just entering upon the period 
of pubescence. 

Children of the first class are ready and prompt to act, often 
restless and uneasy, quick to speak and to respond to external 
stimuli. In many cases they speak and act before thinking 
carefully. They are energetic, impulsive and hopeful. Such 
children must have opportunities to work off their super- 
abundant nervous energy in proper ways, and need to be 
wisely restrained and checked in their tendencies to impulsive 
and hasty action. 

Children of the second class are generally slow and deliberate 
in movement, do not respond quickly to external stimuli, think 
before speaking, and sometimes appear dull and devoid of 
interest. Such children need encouragement, judicious stimu- 
lation, and special training to habits of promptness both in 
physical and mental movements. They are frequently sensi- 
tive and easily wounded by unwise reproofs. Although groups 
have been spoken of here, remember that each child has his 
own peculiarities and should be studied and treated as an 
individual. 

Disposition. — Disposition is a term used to denote a pre- 



108 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 

dominant tone or temper of mind; to some extent, it may 
depend upon temperament. While disposition is a native 
characteristic of mind, yet, unlike temperament, it may be 
greatly modified by training and environment. It may, in 
fact, be essentially changed by persistent and judicious effort. 
No child can be rightly and wisely managed until his disposi- 
tion is pretty thoroughly understood. Dispositions are vari- 
ously named, as open, frank, social, cheerful, or suspicious, 
reserved, gloomy, morose, sullen, and so on. 

Different dispositions require very different treatment, and 
the wisdom of a teacher will be shown by her skill in adapting 
herself and her methods of management to the various disposi- 
tions of her pupils. 

Moods. — Moods differ from dispositions in being usually 
temporary states or conditions of mind. They may be named 
by essentially the same terms employed in speaking of disposi- 
tions. If moods are indulged in pretty frequently so that they 
become habitual, they assume the character of acquired 
dispositions. They need to be studied as much as dispositions 
or temperaments. In many cases a mood is best treated by 
ignoring it; this is especially true of the morose, sullen and 
sulky moods, in which some children indulge with the hope of 
annoying a teacher. The best way is to leave such pupils 
severely alone; the mood will usually disappear if unnoticed. 

The moral character. — One prime purpose of the school is 
to make good men and women, good citizens. Good citizen- 
ship depends quite as much upon character as upon knowl- 
edge; and character is a matter of growth and, to a large 
extent, of proper instruction and training. Consequently the 
teacher should study carefully the moral tendencies and habits 



A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 109 

of pupils. Are children truthful, honest, trustworthy? are 
they courteous, kind, careful not to trespass upon the rights of 
others ? Take great care not to accuse a child of falsehood or 
dishonesty or any other moral delinquency, unless you have 
evidence that he is really guilty. In doubtful cases it is better 
to trust a pupil and be cheated than to run the risk of doing 
injustice to an innocent child. In studying the moral charac- 
ter of pupils do not treat them as if you were suspicious of 
them. Assume that a child is honest and truthful until he has 
proved himself to be otherwise. Lying is not a universal 
characteristic of childhood. Children are neither angels nor 
demons; but merely partially developed human beings, full of 
the possibilities of good or evil. Child study should aid the 
teacher in the work of developing the good and eradicating the 
bad. 

Interests and tastes. — Occasionally a child is found who 
appears to take no interest in any of the ordinary school 
studies; he is listless, puts forth no earnest effort, does not care 
whether he learns his lessons or not. Make an effort to dis- 
cover something in which such a pupil will take an interest. 
Observe him out of school, on the play ground, on the street, 
in the home if possible. Study his tastes and habits; see what 
he does when left to himself. He may be fond of drawing or 
mechanical work; if so find something for him to do in those 
lines. Perhaps he has a taste for the study of plants, flowers, 
insects, animals, or something in nature. Keep on experi- 
menting until the right thing is found. There may be in this 
child the material out of which a noble man can be made. 

Study also to discover the peculiar interests, aptitudes, and 
tastes of all your pupils. While it may be necessary for every 



110 A PBIMER OF PEDAGOaY. 

scholar to do all the usual, ordinary school work, yet every 
pupil should be encouraged and helped to pursue those studies 
and to do that sort of work in which he has special interest and 
for which he seems particularly fitted, and in which he will be 
likely to excell. 

Work with parents. — In the study of children, as in all 
other school work, seek to interest parents and to labor in har- 
mony with them. As a rule parents are genuinely interested 
in everything which promises to be for the advantage of their 
children, and will gladly unite with teachers in efforts to make 
the school better and more attractive. They can, in many 
cases, be induced to study carefully the peculiarities of their 
own children, and thus become more intelligent in respect to 
their capacities, tastes, habits, and needs. They may be led to 
read books and periodicals, and, where circumstances are 
favorable, they may be encouraged to meet together occasion- 
ally for mutual consultation, and for study and conversation. 

Descriptions of children. — It will be a good plan for a teacher 
to write out occasionally full descriptions of some individual 
children. These descriptions should be for her own use and 
benefit and should not be made public. The observations 
necessary to write such descriptions will bring a teacher into 
more complete sympathy with the children and will indicate 
methods of management and instruction better suited to their 
peculiarities. The following points may be taken as a basis 
for the written descriptions; other points will readil}'' occur to 
intelligent observers. 

1. Name, age, nativity. 

2. Home environment and companionships. 

3. Temperament, active or slow. 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. Ill 

4. General personal appearance, dress, movements, facial 
expression, etc. 

5. Any marked peculiarities of any kind, sensory defects, if 
any. 

6. Favorite games and plays; habits of attention, regularity 
punctuality, etc. 

7. Moral characteristics, disposition, moods, if any, etc. 

8. Suggestions as to the best methods of management and 
reasons for these. 

In case the observations extend over considerable time it will 
be useful to note any changes which take place in the charac- 
ter, habits, etc., and the probable causes for such changes. 

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER YIII. 

1. Importance of child study. 

2. Not a new thing. 

3. General child nature. 

4. Individual child nature. 

5. What the teacher should study. 

6. Study easier in lower grades. 

7. Process of assimilation. 

8. The whole child to be studied. 

9. Study of body and mind cannot be separated. 

10. Where to begin. 

11. How learn the contents of children's minds. 

12. Study the environment. 

13. Study of heredity. 

14. Study previous training. 

15. Study of children themselves. 

16. Study of the senses. 

17. The hearing. 

18. The seeing. 

19. Modes of testing. 

20. Study of mental characteristics. — Temperaments. 

21. Dispositions. — Moods. 

22. The moral character. 

23. Interests and tastes. 

24. Work in connection with parents. 

25. Descriptions of children. 



112 A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 



QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 

1. State the three questions which present themselves to 
one preparing for any work. 

2. Why do we value a machine or a road ? 

3. What is the real work of a teacher ? 

4. What should the education of a child include ? 

5. What does development produce? 

6. What does training produce ? 

7. What should instruction produce ? 

8. Give Tate's definition of education ? 

9. What is Milton's definition ? 

10. Give the substance of Addison's statement. 

11. What does Plato say of doing? 

12. Name the different varieties of education. 

13. What must one know in order to educate a child? 

14. State the illustration of the trainer of horses. 

15. Describe the nervous system and the different kinds of 
nerves. 

16. State the kind of knowledge which each one of the 
senses gives us. 

17. What is the mind ? 

18. What is consciousness? 

19. State and illustrate the relation of consciousness and the 
senses. 

20. Where does the process of education begin ? 

21. What is perception as an act? what as a power ? 

22. What is a percept ? Give illustrations. 

23. Explain how we get the ideas of space and time. 

24. What is intuition ? 

25. Name and define the group of perceptive powers. 

26. Give examples and illustrations of the process of repre- 
sentation. 

27. Give examples of representation in the school. 

28. What are concepts? How do they differ from percepts? 

29. What is real representation? 

30. What is ideal representation ? Give illustrations. 

31. Illustrate the use and work of imagination in the school. 

32. Define memory. 

33. State and illustrate how the memory recalls. 

34. What are laws of association ? 

35. Name the primary laws. 

36. Name the secondary laws. 

37. Name and define the group of conceptive or representa- 
tive powers. 

38. What is thinking as here defined ? 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 113 



39. Define analysis, abstraction, and generalization. 

40. What is general conception ? What is a general concept ? 

41. What is the judgment? What is a proposition? 

42. Give an example of a reasoning process. 

43. Name and define the thinking powers. 

44. Give a synopsis of the knowing powers. 

45. What are bodily feelings? appetites? 

46. Name the three classes of mental feelings and define 
them. 

47. What is hope? 

48. Why is a knowledge of the feelings important to a 
teacher? 

49. What is the will? Give an illustration of an act of the 
will. 

50. What is the order of the mental processes ? 

51. How can the teacher move or influence the will of a 
child? 

52. What is a moral being? 

53. Describe the moral nature ; intuition ; perception ; judg- 
ment ; conscience. 

54. Why should conscience be always obeyed? 

55. Name some of the moral feelings. 

56. What are motives ? 

57. How can we increase or diminish the power of motives ? 

58. Are we free in our choosing? 

59. Give the illustrations of development. 

60. Explain the use of the term law. 

61. Give the first law of development. 

62. State the order in which the powers are developed. 

63. What is the first inference from the first law ? 

64. Give the characteristics of each of the three periods of 
school life. 

65. To what powers of mind must teaching be directed in 
each of these periods ? 

66. State the second inference from the first law. 

67. State what the characteristics of each of the three classes 
of schools should be. 

68. State the third inference from the first law. 

69. Give the second law of development. 

70. What is the teacher's business under this law ? 

71. State the inference from the second law. 

72. What is the third law of development? 

73. Give the first inference from the third law. 

74. What is the second relation of knowledge to education ? 

75. What is teaching, and what is the teacher's work? 

15 



114 A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 



76. Who is the best teacher ? 

77. What is method? what are methods of teaching? 

78. What determines methods of teaching ? 

79. Give the illustration of the scientist. 

80. What does the real teacher do according to this illus- 
tration ? 

81. What is meant hj general forms of mental activity? 
w^hat by special forms ? 

83. What are the general laws of mind ? 

83. State the first general law of mind, and the correspond- 
ing law of teaching ? 

84. State the second law of mind, and the corresponding law 
of teaching. 

85. How do the senses present knowledge? Give illustrations. 

86. Give illustrations of the analytic process of the mind. 

87. How is the child learning till he enters school? 

88. What does Hamilton say of the work of elaboration ? 

89. What is the substance of the caution ? 

90. What methods of teaching elementary reading are men- 
tioned ? Which are synthetic and which analytic? 

91. Explain the maxim, " Proceed from the known to the 
unknown," 

92. What is the knoivn to the child when beginning to learn 
to read? What is the unknown 9 

93. What is the work of the first step in teaching children 
to read ? 

94. Explain the second stejD. 

95. What is the work of the third step ? 

96. Explain the method of teaching language lessons accord- 
ing to these laws. 

97. Give the third law of mind, and the corresponding law 
of teaching. 

98. What work this third law covers. 

99. Upon what does the power of memory depend? 

100. Upon what does the depth of the impression depend ? 

101. What illustration shows the effect of intense attention? 
what of repetition ? 

102. What are the suggestions in relation to attention ? 

103. What is the second matter considered in the training of 
the memory ? 

104. How can the different parts of a topic be best associated 
in the mind ? 

105. Give the illustration in respect to committing to memory 
a number of names. 

106. What laws of association are used in teaching arithme- 
tic? 



A PRIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 115 



107. AVhat laws in teaching to read ? 

108. What laws in teaching geography ? 

109. What laws in teaching history ? 

110. Upon what does all valuable training of the memory 
depend ? 

111. State the fourth general law of mind, and the corre- 
sponding law of teaching. 

112. Why can no definite rules be given as to the length of 
lessons ? 

1 13. What things must be taken into account in assigning 
lessons ? 

114. What is the prime condition of fruitful study ? 

115. What should be the aim of the student in his work? 
What the aim of the teacher ? 

116. What is said in relation to sleep ? 

117. What is the most important consideration in physical 
exercise ? 

118. What should be done in primary schools in respect to 
physical exercise ? What in advanced grades ? 

119. Why should different kinds of studies alterate with one 
another ? 

120. What activities of mind are employed in studying 
mathematics ? 

121. What activities in studying the sciences ? what in geo- 
graphy and history? what in reading and language? 

122. What alternations of studies are suggested in a pro- 
gram? 

123. What is meant by subordinate or special laws of mind ? 
by special laws of teaching ? 

124. State the first special law of mind, and the correspond- 
ing law of teaching. 

125. Name some " maxims " covered by this law. 

126. What is one leading purpose of the teacher in this early 
period of school life. 

127. How does the child learn at this time ? 

128. State the distinction between object teaching and 
objective teaching. 

129. For what are object lessons valuable ? 

130. What are bad object lessons? 

131. What are the characteristics of good observing? 

132. What is it to develop and train the perceptive powers ? 

133. State some of the questions concerning the habit of 
observing. 

134. Give examples of concrete questions in arithmetic. 

135. Give examples of concrete spelling lessons. 



116 A PRIMEK OF PEDAGOGY. 



136. Why should methods of teaching be changed only gradu- 
ally? 

137. What is the order of a child's progress in the first stage? 
what is the order in the second stage? 

138. Illustrate the order in the second stage by reference to a 
reading lesson. 

139. State the order in a language lesson. 

140. Illustrate expression by other means than by words. 

141. What evil results from using the object and objective 
method of teaching too long ? 

142. State the second special law of mind, and second special 
law of teaching. 

143. State the third special law of mind, and of teaching. 

144. How does the young child probably obtain his earliest 
ideas of classes of objects ? Give an illustration. 

145. Define induction. Give examples. 

146. Give examples of induction in teaching arithmetic. 

147. Why may young children be allowed to "do" things for 
which they cannot give reasons. 

148. Define deduction. Give examples. 

149. Are there purely inductive and purely deductive meth- 
ods of teaching ? 

150. Next to training the senses, what is the most important 
work of the primary teacher ? 

151. State the suggestions in relation to teaching language to 
young children. 

152. What kind of words should be taught to young children? 

153. May technical terms be taught ? 

154. How only can a teacher become eminently successful ? 

155. What is the effect of imitation ? 

156. What should a teacher determine first before beginning 
any subject? 

157. What next should be determined ? 

158. How far do general laws apply ? 

159. What is the purpose stated in teaching civil government 
to young pupils ? 

160. What laws are given ? 

161. Where begin and how proceed in a district school? 

162. Where begin in a village or city? 

163. At what time may the township government be best 
studied. 

164. At what time the state government? 

165. At what time the U. S. government? 

166. Why best at these times ? 

167. State the method of teaching civil government in ad- 
vanced classes. 



A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 117 

168. Why should we not begin to teach history to children 
by using outlines? 

169. State the object in teaching U. S. history to young 
children. 

170. What laws of mind are applicable? 

171. What law is especially applicable? 

172. How should the first lessons in history be taught? 

173. Give illustrations. What are the advantages of this 
method ? 

174. What are the more formal lessons? 

175. What advantage in having a variety of text-books? 

176. How may advanced classes be taught? 

177. What is the purpose in giving these applications of 
mental laws and laws of teaching? 

178. What is the moral nature ? 

179. What questions does it ask ? 

180. What is the origin of the idea of right? 

181. What is moral law ? 

182. State the principle of justice. 

183. Give some applications of this law. 

1 "4. What is the principle of beneficence? 

185. Give some applications of this law. 

186. State the purpose of moral instruction and training. 

187. What knowledge must the child have ? 

188. What disposition ? What must he acquire by practice ? 

189. State the different means by which instruction may be 
given. 

190. What is unconscious tuition? 

191. Why should examples worthy to be imitated be chosen 
rather than those worthy to be avoided ? 

192. How may advanced students be instructed? 

193. What is the most difficult part of this work? 

194. Upon what does disposition depend? 

195. What is desire? What is good? 

196. What is a motive ? 

197. What are high and what low motives ? 

198. What rule for the selection of motives ? 

199. The first class of motives. 

200. The second, third, and fourth classes. 

201. The lowest motive to which the teacher can appeal. 

202. The highest motive to which appeal can be made. 

203. What should be the final result of moral development, 
instruction and training ? 

204. What is character ? 

205. Explain why the study of children is of importance to 
teachers. 



118 A PKIMER OF PEDAGOGY. 



206. Explain what is meant by general and what by special 
child nature. 

207. Why is the study of young children easier than the 
study of older children ? 

208. Explain why assimilation takes place in schools. 

209. Why must both the body and mind be studied ? 

210. How can the contents of children's minds when first 
entering school be best learned ? 

211. Explain why the study of the environment and pre- 
vious training of children is important. 

212. Explain heredity and its probable influence. 

313. Explain methods of examining and testing hearing and 
sight. 

214. Explain temperaments, dispositions, moods. 

215. Why study the interests and tastes of children? 

216. Name points to be considered in writing descriptions of 
children. 

217. Explain the advantages to the teacher of writing such 
descriptions. 

218. Explain why teachers and parents should work together 
in the study of children. 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Abstraction and analysis 20 

Affections, the _ 33 

Alternation of studies. 61 

Arithmetic, laws of association in teaching 53, 54 

Association, laws of 19, 52 

in teaching 54^57 

Attention _ 53, 54 

Character 98 

Child, the 11 

development of. 30 

Children, importance of study of not a new thing 99 

easier in elementary grades _. 100 

where begin _ 103 

study of body, mind, senses 101 , 103 

of temperaments, dispositions, moods 106-108 

of mental characteristics, of moral character_106-108 
descriptions of children, points to be con- 
sidered 110 

Choice, freedom of _ 37 

Civil government, suggestions as to teaching . 82, 83 

Classes of things, the child's first ideas of _ . 72 

Conception, simple.. 18 

power of.._ _ _ ._ 20 

general 21 

Concepts, simple __ 17 

general 21 

Concrete, lessons.. 67, 68 

Conscience _ 26 

Consciousness ._ 14 

Deduction _ 74 

illustrations of 75 

Desires 23, 96 

Development 6 

what it produces 7 

laws of 31-38 

moral _ 89 



120 INDEX. 



PAGE 

Disposition, on what depends 95 

Education, what it includes 6 

definitions of _ 7, 8 

divisions of 9 

beginnings of 14 

Environment, study of 102 

Examination of senses, methods of 104 

Feelings, bodily _.. 22 

mental 23 

classes of 23 

moral 27 

Generalization 21 

Good, the 96 

Government, suggestions as to teaching civil 82, 84 

Heredity, study of _ 102 

History, suggestions as to teaching U. S 85-87 

Ideas, first of classes 72 

Imagination 18 

Induction 73, 74 

Instruction _. 6, 7 

moral - 92-95 

Interests and tastes, study of 109 

Intuition 15 

moral 26 

Judgment, the 21 

a - 21 

moral — 26 

Knowledge, relation of, to education 36, 37 

Known, from, to unknown - 47 

Language, suggestions as to lessons in 50, 51 

before grammar 75 

suggestions as to teaching 76 

Law, moral 90 

principles of moral - - 90, 91 

Laws of mind, general - 43, 44 

teaching - 44, 52, 58 

special -.63, 64, 70,71 

suggested applications ~ 80, 82 

Lessons, as to length of - 58 

assignment of 59 

concrete - 67 

Legislature, when best studied 83 

Memory 18 

cultivation of 52 



INDEX. 121 



PAGE 

Mental activities, general and special forms of 43 

Methods, divisions of 34 

defined 40 

how determined 41, 43 

Mind, v^hat it is 14 

laws of 43-58 

Moral, being and nature 25 

nature 89 

intuition, perception, judgment - 26 

law 90 

Moral instruction and training. 89 

Motives, high and low, classes of 97, 98 

Nature, of child, general, special 100 

Nerves, the 12 

peculiar property of 12 

Object, teaching and lessons 65 

Objective teaching 65 

Observation, by children 67 

questions as to 67 

Perception _ 15 

moral 26 

powers of 16 

Percept, what _ ._ 15 

Physical exercises _ 60 

Principles of morals _ 90, 91 

Processes before reasons 74 

Progress, order of, in the two stages 69 

Questions, to a person preparing for any work 5 

Reading, teaching of elementary. 8, 56 

laws of association employed 56 

Reasoning 21 

Representation 16 

real 1'7 

ideal ,. 18 

powers of- .-_ 20 

begins early. . , 70 

Rest and relaxation _ 59 

Right, idea of _ ..-. 89 

Schools, classes of , 33 

Sensation 14 

Senses, the 13 

kind of knowledge given by each sense 13 

form in which they present knowledge _ 4:5 

Sleep 60 

16 



122 INDEX. 



PAGE 

Space and time 15 

Studies, alternation of 61 

Teacher, work of 5, 6 

the best 38 

Teaching, not an end 5 

what it is : 37 

general laws of .._ - 44-58 

special laws of... 63-72 

Technical terms, as to teaching 77 

Testing, of hearing, of sight 106 

Thinking 20 

forms of 21 

powers of -- 22 

Time and space ..- 15 

Training, what it is .- 6 

what it produces 7 

Will, the, analysis of an act of 27 

factor in the moral nature 27 

Words, kind of, to be taught to children 77 

technical 78 



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